One of These Days

2011-04-06T00:00:00.002-05:00

If you haven't heard, I'm going to Loma Linda for pediatrics and I am very happy about it.

2010-12-30T17:33:00.003-06:00

Top Ten of 2010
(chronological order)

1. Winter Formal
2. Galena weekend with the folks
3. Psychation
4. Jessie's marathon
5. Taylor Swift
6. Post boards vacation home
7. Dinners with Stephen and Violette
8. Walks along the river
9. Peds Sub I
10. Home for over a month during winter!

2010-10-27T21:57:00.003-05:00

The past couple months have gone by quite fast as M4 year has begun and we find ourselves in the midst of interview season. I have more free time these days than I am used to, and yet haven't gotten around to posting for 3 months.

To summarize, after the long and arduous journey of step 2, I took a 2 week vacation home. This involved lots of food, lots of tv, and generally doing nothing all day but gain weight. I also spent a weekend in San Francisco with the mother, which an awesome city. Upon my return to Peoria I had a month with Dr. C on pulm, which basically amounted to a 4 week vacation. Next was my Peds Sub I which was a great experience; I actually felt like an almost doctor, and loved working with kids and all the peds residents. Having Julia and Stu on the rotation definitely made things a lot more fun too, and overall the rotation was definitely my favorite in all of medical school. Afterward I did EM, which was a lot of work and I did not enjoy it as much as I thought I would. Luckily I was able to squeeze in a half week of vacation home afterward, which was much needed.

Now I'm halfway through neuro, with interviews just around the corner. Here's to free dinners and lots of traveling.

2010-07-21T16:33:00.005-05:00

The road of M3 was a long and hard one, but at long last we have reached the end. Looking back on where I was the last 4th of July, it truly was quite an adventure, I have to say I am quite proud of all I have accomplished and learned. From the endless nights of obgyn call, to mondays with miller, 12 weeks of uhats, the journey that was surgery, psychATION!, and peds with mercedes, every rotation has had an impact on me and who future Dr. Mike will be.

The last few weeks were spent studying for step 2, a lot like step 1 but not quite as bad. Things were definitely made easier by Stephen's study company as well as hot coffee girl at borders. Since taking step 2 I have spent the last 2 weeks at home thanks to our online informatics class, and have accomplished exactly what I promised; eat a lot and watch tv.

In a few days Ill be heading back to Peoria and continuing with our last year of medical school. One last year. In the words of a famous singer who's name I can't spell, "I had the laaaaaaast waaaaaaltz with youuuuuuu"

2010-05-10T20:20:00.003-05:00

It's a Love Story

Last Saturday Peter, Jessica and I made a little trip over to Moline, IL to see none other than Taylor Swift. It was absolutely the greatest show I have ever seen, and all I kept thinking throughout the concert was "I hope this night never ends". My favorite song of the night was "You're Not Sorry" which she mixed with "What Goes Around". She was amazing live and spent a good amount of time going through the crowd giving out hugs. Can't wait for her next tour.

Iron Man 2 was good too.

Two Saturdays ago we made a trip to Champaign to see our good friend Jessica run a marathon. She is simply amazing. Also amazing are the Jessica Liu fan club shirts Jubilee made. Afterward we had Korean food. I dont know what was more impressive, how much Jessica ran or how much she ate after.

2010-04-13T01:03:00.004-05:00

An Ode to Psychation

I cant believe its almost done
These past few weeks have been much fun
And now I feel an inclination
To write an ode to Psychation
After surgery life began anew
There were so many things that I could do
Dinners at Taste of Thai and Buffet Mings
There were hot waitresses at Buffalo Wild Wings
24 and lost nights have been fun so far
Nikhil really didn't enjoy Avatar
And over to visit were my sis and mom
Quaint Galena was the bomb
And home to see my dog, the ocean and lake
My family ate lunch all through the quake
So much time that we had free
Mystery dinners and Stephen's Wii
But now that our time is almost done
Thank you Psychation, it's been fun.

2010-02-28T21:20:00.002-06:00

Life continues post surgery.

The journey of surgery was a long and winding one, with many sleepless days and nights of fatigue and hopeless confusion. But, the sun is shining brightly on the other side, and life already seems a little easier. This weekend has felt like the start of a new life, one without 4am alarm clocks and 5 hours of standing in one spot while holding retractors. So that being said, I'm going to take this moment to do what I do best, and that is do nothing. Cheers.

2010-01-31T08:50:00.003-06:00

A Strike Too Hard

After a long 4 weeks, I'm finally done with general surgery. There's still another 4 weeks of surgery to go, but at least we're halfway home, the hardest part is out of the way, and the only permanent damage done was a broken reflex hammer (and the guys knee).

2010-01-05T20:50:00.002-06:00

Top Ten of 2009
(chronological order)

1. Glen Oak Secret Santa
2. 24 nights
3. Valentine's / Singles night
4. Spring Formal
5. Mini Golf day
6. Post finals Palms Springs week
7. Week at home, Vegas, and Disneyland after Step 1
8. Apple Orchard / Karaoke night at Paul, Peter, and Julia's
9. Pankti's bday / end of semester
10. Christmas Break

2009-12-02T20:38:00.003-06:00

An Ode To December 2009

Here I sit just one week after
My Thanksgiving break of food and laughter
Too short it was you can't deny
Not seeing my dog is cause to cry
So here we are with just three weeks
Till the shelf exam that will bust my cheeks
I just cant wait till this all ends
So I can spend time with family and friends
But until then I must continue
To dream of home and my PS2.

2009-09-15T22:04:00.004-05:00

Typical day as a medical student

"So do you have any other problems?"
"Well, yes, you're an Asian."
"Excuse me?"
"Urination!"

2009-08-30T15:01:00.002-05:00

Done with OB Gyn!

Yesterday was PSD#1 (Post Shelf Day) and on the suggestion of Milan, we made a little trip up to Tanner's Apple Orchard for some apple picking, except that we didn't pick any apples. What we did do was enjoy some delicious $1 ice cream sundaes and pick up some apple cider and apple cider doughnuts (I've eaten 6 of them already). And, we got to see some exotic animals, including llamas and goats, and take a couple pictures like this one on the Tanners Appley Express:

Afterward we headed over to Paul, Peter, and Julia's for some much needed karaoke. Overall a much needed relaxing weekend after our first 8 weeks of M3.

2009-05-16T01:00:00.006-05:00

This is a picture of me looking pensive.

This picture is a perfect snapshot of how I feel right now; reflecting on sunsets past, looking ahead to the unexplored future, and pondering a great many questions regarding the present. Number one on that list is why I kept falling asleep watching TV while I was home, but now that I'm back to studying and actually need sleep, I'm still awake and updating my blog.

I also get pensive looking at this picture of me looking pensive; said picture was taken at Torrey Pines beach during winter break M1 year, one of the happiest times of the past two years.

And right as I was about to start reflecting about being halfway through med school and all the choices in life that lead me to be sitting in an apartment on the 9th floor of a building in Peoria, Illinois, "At The Beginning" from the movie Anastasia came on my playlist. This song was sung at my high school graduation, and speaks volumes about the journey that is life. So while I go back to bed and try to sleep, I'll leave you all with this profoundly deep and emotional line, sung by Donna Lewis and Richard Marx.

"In the end I want to be standing at the beginning with you."

Update >>> Ok, I didn't go to sleep. I went on facebook instead, and while perusing the profiles of old friends from days long past, I was reminded of a skit I wrote for our final project way back in AP English during senior year. It was a play that combined elements from most of the things we read that year, namely Hamlet, A Tale of Two Cities, and a Picture of Dorian Grey. It was probably the cheesiest play ever written, and foolishly included jokes that not even my fellow actors got, but it still was tons of fun and was performed with some of my best friends from high school. So on that note, I'll leave you all with this nonsensical line from the play I wrote that I can still remember reciting.

"A spork? Who ever heard of being killed by a spork?" (it didn't make sense 7 years ago either)

2009-05-02T00:08:00.005-05:00

It's midnight, I'm studying for exams, and once again I rely on my old friend Mr. Blog for some peace of mind. I have entitled tonight's post "A Reflection on Life in Peoria", alternatively called "I don't want to study pathology of the breast".

A week ago, after classes on a sunny, peaceful day, a couple of us decided to take a stroll through downtown Peoria. We often make fun of this town, but in all honesty that was one of the most relaxing and soulfully enlightening experiences of recent memory. After eating my first burger in a long while, we explored a bit around. Walking down the street, with the sun shining and the trees green and arm in arm with friends (ok not really), it made me feel like I was back in high school, strolling around Balboa Park with the high school buds. Downtown Peoria really isn't bad when the weather is nice, and we spent some time admiring some of the statues, playing tag, and sitting by the fountain with no water. Later we wandered into some super tall building and took the elevator to the top floor, where we got a great view of the town. It was a very relaxing and retrospective moment, right up until Leah mentioned how the building was swaying in the wind and we decided to come back down. When I got back to my apartment, I thought to myself about the different roads life has taken me. 3 years ago I never would have guessed that I would have ended up in the midwest, and I have even less of an idea where I might be 3 years from now. But whereever I may end up, there will always be those simple friday afternoons where you can relax, admire your surroundings (even if the fountain doesn't have water) and enjoy some time spent amongst friends.

That's about the time I made a list of things I wanted to do when I got home and started counting the days till my flight out of here.

2009-04-14T22:59:00.008-05:00

I've spent the last 45 minutes looking at the same slide describing diseases of the vulva, so I've finally accepted the fact that no more work will get done this night. Therefore, I decided to make the return to my often forgotten blog, that same blog that once was updated on the daily and now has but 2 measly posts in 2009 going into April. This blog has been around since 2002, keeping a record of the often humorous misadventures of myself and various friends I've met along the way, and such a loyal journal deserves more attention than I've given it recently. Therefore, to mark my return to making quality entries, I decided to write about a topic that is very near and dear to my heart: my dog Calvin. This is the story of Calvin the dog.

Calvin was born March 26, 2003, the eldest of 6 puppies to a chow mother and lab father. Known for his energetic and carefree personality, his original owner dubbed him Tuffy (as in Toughy). We adopted him at the age of 6 weeks, and I blessed him with the name Calvin (named after the equally mischievious Calvin from Calvin and Hobbes). Calvin was quite free spirited as a puppy, playful and wild, running around endlessly which resulted in me having to chase and catch him whenever he happened to escape through the gate.

As a puppy, Calvin loved attention. One of his oldest tricks was to grab socks out of the laundry room and then chew it in front of me while I watched tv, forcing me to get up and chase him. He loved playing tug of war with such socks, but always cheated by using his paws (cheater).

Calvin was an incredibly cute puppy, as was well demonstrated by the one time I took him to Mission Bay for Labor Day. Mission Bay is located near Pacific Beach, the area of San Diego where young partygoers live, and on that particular day the park was filled with beautiful and youthful folk. Walking Calvin along the park resulted in numerous bikini clad girls coming up to pet him and tell me what a cute dog he was. That day, Calvin was the definition of man's best friend.

Calvin eventually outgrew his puppy days, and today is a giant sized stuffed animal that sleeps all day, except for breakfast, dinner, and snack time from dad. He also enjoys stealing naps on beds when nobody is around (I secretly let him).

2009-03-10T18:22:00.005-05:00

So I've given up Facebook for 40 days, which leaves me with nothing but my old blog in order to share all the exciting things that happen in my life.

Last Saturday was Snowball, our med school formal. It was good fun with lots of dancing and seeing all my friends dressed up and looking hot.

The dudes:

The beautiful ladies:

Our dinner table. I also gave up meat for lent, so I got to enjoy the best vegetable pasta I have ever eaten. Ever.

2009-02-11T20:18:00.003-06:00

An Ode to the 9th Floor

Now that we're done with exams and immersion
It's time to return to my favorite diversion
Another poem I have composed
About the building where I stay when it snows
Again i write in honor of floor number nine
Whose inhabitants always cause a tingling spine
Oh 9th floor why do I love thee?
Let me count the ways you make me happy
First of all there's Helen, who babysits our plants
The decorations she hangs are worth a 2nd glance
Then there's our upperclassmen neighbors who we forget not
Both friendly and smart, plus really quite hot
And of course my room, where we watch Jack Bauer
Its the best place in all of Oak Tower
But what is really so special about floor nine
Are Leah and Seetal, great neighbors of mine
There's nothing better than the things that they bake
Brownies, muffins, and a checkerboard cake
Whether we play games, watch the office or lost
Having neighbors like these is like sugary frost

2008-12-31T13:03:00.003-06:00

Top 10 of 2008

Chronological Order

1. Monical's Pizza
-best night of pizza ever

2. Nikhil's Bday / Peorians Dinner
-don't tell Nikhil, but this is only here because it was the last few exam free days before Spring Break. Future Peorians Dinner was fun too.

3. Spring Formal
-it was fun seeing everyone dressed up and looking hot instead of in the usual anatomy lab gear

4. Last day of M1
-speaks for itself.

5. Palm Springs
-a great week away with the folks after M1

6. Ecuador
-best month of the year.

7. Sea World, Zoo, Universal Studios Week
-the NorCal cousins came down for a visit, and we got to visit the tourist spots of San Diego and Hollywood.

8. Rockfordian Visit
-Whitney, Bruce, and Nick came to visit for a great weekend of karaoke, casinoing, and the greatest cornfield maze in history

9. Movie Nights Marathons
-All 3 LOTR movies, extended editions.

10. Christmas in San Diego
-visits to Balboa, Coronado, Julian, the beach, lots and lots of food, my 65 inch tv, video games, and my dog. Oh, and the folks.

2008-11-09T11:24:00.004-06:00

The Ultimate Superhero Team: Med School Style

Sitting in class during our 7 hour lectures, or trying to study before our daunting exam days, it sometimes crosses my mind that anyone able to survive even a year or 2 of medical school must be a superhero. The things we have to do are insane, from memorizing the names and functions of 100s of drugs to asking 87 year old women their sexual preference, being a medical student requires strength, courage, and determination beyond that of any normal human. So, as I sit here still trying to snap out of the post exam / pre thanksgiving laziness that has overtaken me, I present to you the secret identities of our truly amazing classmates.

Nikhil: Captain America - honor, courage, and loyalty to his friends and country. That's Nikhil in a nutshell. And of course his responsible and hard working nature is an inspiration to us all.

Krunal: Mr. Fantastic - not only is he one of Earth's greatest geniouses, but he can seemingly do anything by reaching out and stretching for the stars. Except go through 4 hours of lecture without cracking up at least once.

Sachin: Iron Man - intelligent, charismatic, and every story he tells starts with "So there was this one girl..."

Andy: Wolverine - He can go pretty berserk, and when he's out of control, he's not someone you want to mess with. And if you've ever talked to him about slide 17, you'd know that his animal instincts are his main driving force.

Mark: The Hulk - they're both pretty tall and immensely strong?

Seetal: Storm - a natural leader and the ability to rain down lightning and thunder fits Seetal perfectly.

Leah: Rogue - if you've ever seen Leah throw a punch (Wii boxing) then you'd know she's got the super strength of Rogue. And she can fly.

Pankti: Invisible Woman - I admit, I couldn't really think of anyone for Pankti, so she just gets to be Jessica Alba.

Me: Spider-Man - We're both nerds.

So there you have it. Next time, I'll reveal which of our classmates make the best super villains. (and which of our professors is Dr. Doom).

2008-10-21T22:55:00.002-05:00

An Ode to Glen Oak Towers

Here I sit in a familiar place
With nothing but homework in my face
So like before what I will do
Is write a poem for me and you
An ode I write to Glen Oak Tee
With its elevators that smell of pee
15 floors there are in all
My kitchen sink is really small
The neighbors here are good and bad
My 9th floor friends make me glad
Plus all our classmates everyday I see
And also the hotties from M3
It makes for fun each day we do
Mafia, cards, and the Office too
But though its good I still must say
You will see oddballs every single day
Glen Oak is full of unique folks
Like the guy who stands outside and smokes
And the dude I see with the thing on his face
Make me wish I lived in another place
It makes me miss San Diego more
Missing home, my dog, the beach and shore
I nearly burst into onomatopoeia
But then I remember Seetal and Leah
Glen Oak is not so bad on the ninth floor
With neighbors like these life's never a bore
They keep you up when life seems down
They force you to stay when you nearly skip town
And though we often wish we weren't in Peoria
Having friends like that is nearly euphoria
So cheers again for Glen Oak Towers
Instead of studying I have wasted 2 hours.

2008-09-27T21:53:00.003-05:00

Remember that show "Kung Fu: The Legend Continues"? It starred David Carradine as Shaolin priest Kwai Chang Caine, kind old explorer and kung fu extraordinaire. The updated version of the show featured Caine's son Michael, who had spent his childhood studying Kung Fu with his father at a temple likely in China (after wikipedia'ing, it turns out the temple was in California), and was famous for actually NOT having a grasshopper at his feet. As the story goes, he gets separated from his father during an attack on their temple, and subsequently grows up to become a cop. After he reunites with his father, the two of them experience endless adventure, generally involving Caine artfully vanquishing evil doers with his graceful yet deadly martial art form, and Michael shooting them with his gun. Throughout their kung fu adventures, a running theme would be in the form of flashbacks, wherein Caine and sometimes Michael would find himself in some hopeless predicament, only to suddenly remember an important lesson learned during their Shaolin Temple days that allows him to triumph over their adversity.

All of this of course relates to the last 10 hours I have spent studying pharamcology. I sit here looking over these infinitely impossible mind map slides, wondering how the heck I am ever going to pass this exam when I flashback to my ancient days of training at Mt Carmel High School. I remember my teachers teaching me valuable lessons like "If you have too many people at a study group, it becomes a pizza party", and like Caine I am using those long days of forging my spiritual and mental strength studying APEC and AP Bio to defeat today's enemies. Kung Fu, like medical school itself, is all about remembering the valuable lessons of experience and applying the knowledge gained in the past to overcoming the challenges of today.

And after spending the last 30 minutes writing this post, the greatest lesson I learned is that I am just as inefficient studying now as I was ten years ago.

2008-09-14T21:42:00.004-05:00

So on Friday night a bunch of us decided to spend the night at the safe and fun bowling alley. What resulted was one of the most comical moments in recent history.

After a rather decent game on my part which included one strike on the night, the final turn to bowl was on me. Hoping to end the night on a good note, I picked up what had up to that point been my lucky bowling ball (also used by Leah) and stepped up to the lane. Again, trying hard to focus on making my last attempt count, I looked down to check my grip on the ball, observe my slow careful steps, and watch my smooth and deliberate release. I was pleased as I watched the ball roll right down the middle of the lane. I was less pleased when I realized the pinsetter had not actually reset from the last round, and was now coming down right as my ball approached. The ball bounced right off the middle of the pinsetter (sure to have been a strike) and slowly came rolling back down the lane. Amidst the confusion, someone yelled "Go get the ball Mike!" (definitely Nikhil), and in my own stupidity I began to walk down the lane to grab the ball, only a few feet away. As soon as I stepped foot on the lane, I realized for the first time how slippery bowling lanes are, and quickly lost my footing. In something straight out of a slapstick comedy, I ended up sliding and slipping and possibly flipping in midair. Time surely slowed down to a halt at some point while I was off the ground, my legs up in the air and my face pointed towards the ground, where I thought in my mind "This is going to be reeeeaalllly bad" right when time sped up again and I landed on the hard floor. A lesser man might have simply laid down and died at that point, but of course my inner Michael Phelps came to life and I got back up, grabbed the bowling ball, somehow managed to get off the bowling lane, and returned to the enthused greetings of my compatriots (who were very busy laughing their heads off).

The second memorable moment of the weekend came during a game of charades as I tried to guess Andy's clues. Puts up 2 fingers, "Two words!", points at himself, "Andy!", points at his shorts, "ANDY DICK!!!". (Andy's shorts).

Coming up close behind for best answers of the game were "Tire Ribs" (Spare ribs) and "Beauty and the Beast" (X-men).

2008-09-10T23:32:00.002-05:00

Passing the time while we waited 3 hours for our food at Granite City, we decided to get to know each other a little better by sharing our answers to a couple fun questions. Here's me in a nutshell.

Favorite cheese: Mozzarella, because it means pizza.

Favorite refreshing non alcoholic drink: Gatorade

What what you want to do if you weren't in med school: Chef. I love food and I love cooking, even though I'm terrible at it. If I had any skill at all at cooking, I would love to be a chef with my own restaurant.

Something nobody knows about you: I am a red belt in taekwondo. But I've forgotten most of it.

Favorite movie: This is a hard one for me, because I don't think I can really choose one movie that would be my favorite above all else. It would be a tossup probably including Star Wars, Batman Begins, and Beauty and the Beast. And maybe the Lizzie Mcguire Movie.

We probably had some other questions too, but by that point in the night we were way to hungry to be able to remember any of it.

2008-09-09T23:23:00.005-05:00

A really cool show to watch on the Travel Channel is Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmerman. The first time I saw it was actually at the dentist's office on the ceiling, while getting my tooth whitened by ultraviolet rays. The dentist warned me that people with sensitive gums get an uncomfortable feeling similar to a "shock" during the procedure, and apparently I have really sensitive gums because my gums felt like someone was electrocuting my mouth for the entire hour it took. Most painful experience I have ever gone through, not counting medical school.

So I went for about a month not being able to watch the Travel Channel because it reminded me too much of sitting in that dentist's office with Zeus shoving lightning bolts between my teeth again. Now that those feelings are nice and suppressed in my subconscious right next to memories of studying for the neuro final, I've been able to watch Bizarre Foods again and I have to say its a lot of fun to watch. Most of the foods he eats really aren't all that bizarre, and actually look quite delicious. It's awesome seeing him explore the world, tasting all sorts of different foods and drinks. There even was an episode where he went to Ecuador and got a cleansing ritual where the shaman spat in his face while he stood there in his underwear.

But the whole point I've been trying to get to by talking about Zeus and bald guys in their underwear is how much the show makes me wish I could travel more. Growing up, the most traveling my family ever did was 5 hour drives to Las Vegas or Palm Springs. We did go to Mexico, and had a trip to the east coast and another one to Hawaii, but we never got to see any far away countries. Going to Ecuador was a great experience for many reasons, and it allowed me to see completely new people and places and discover what life is like in a different part of the world. The trip made me want even more to travel, especially to Europe and Asia and see for myself what the rest of the world is like. Which makes being in med school even worse; we get so little free time to ourselves I feel like I won't be able to travel again for quite a while. But I guess that's the price we med students pay. Oh well, my trip to Paris can always wait until my honeymoon with Jessica Alba

Taylor Swift - "Stay Beautiful"

2008-09-04T00:47:00.003-05:00

It's funny how I had all summer to talk about my great adventures throughout California and all the way to Ecuador, but I wait till a couple days before our first exam to finally post on my blog again. Med school is lame. The only thing that keeps me fighting and makes me stay up to look over these 200 drugs instead of going to sleep is the thought that in 10 years, i will be rich and married to Jessica Alba, or someone equally hot and impressed by a guy who spends long hours in the hospital. It is for Jessica Alba that I torture myself with pathology.

2008-03-21T02:19:00.004-05:00

Spring Break is coming scarily close towards its end, so time to look back and reflect over the last week or so.

Actually I'm just going to mention our Future Peorians Dinner, which went swimmingly well. It was a good bonding time, getting to hang out with the people we'll all be stuck with for another three more years and figuring out which were the ones to ask for eggs at odd times at night. Props to Katie for planning it, and to me for making an awesome Facebook event page. Our group is one of variety and excitement, and filled with people who I am sure will make for some interesting blog entries in the future. So here's to the Peoria Crew and our many future adventures.

Cheers also to Nikhil whose birthday was last week, and to Sharon for giving me a ride far and away from Urbana (and also for bringing me back on Sunday).

2008-03-04T23:49:00.000-06:00

Growing up in San Diego, I used to get confused during movies when someone would step outside on a clear sunny day and say "What a beautiful day!". I would think, "What does he mean? Doesn't every day look like that?". Since moving to Illinois I have discovered that in fact every day is not beautiful, and some are downright ugly. But then I thought, perhaps the ugly days are beautiful in their own way. Maybe snowy days are snowy just so you can make a snow man with that special someone. Then I slipped on the ice and fell right on my knee, which still hurts right now. I then decided that when I am rich and married, Jessica Alba and I will settle in San Diego where every day we can walk outside and say "What a beautiful day!".

2008-02-19T00:25:00.003-06:00

Ok, I feel bad about not updating my blog in over a month and a half, and I'm also tired of studying the female pelvis (never thought I'd say that), so Mike's Blog is back due to high demand.

So 2008 has begun and our journey called Medical School has started its 2nd semester. I'm also feeling a bit nostalgic, so here's a little trip down memory lane looking at the last couple februrarys in Mike's Exciting Life.

Feb 2007: A year ago, I was in the midst of endless travels and interviews all around the great country of America, including a memorable and infinitely significant visit to a small little town called Peoria. What stands out the most is of course the episode of 24 I watched in the hotel room which I almost missed b/c I didnt realize shows started an hour earlier in Illinois.

Feb 2006: Highlights include joining the Kiger lab with its view of the Pacific Ocean and eating at a sushi buffet in La Jolla.

Feb 2005: One of the busiest times of my life (obviously not counting the last few months) which consisted of endless hours in the Hampton lab, studying for that one MCAT exam, and sitting next to the hot girl in psych class.

Feb 2004: Relatively good times, until my grades sucked ass and I almost decided against going to med school.

Feb 2003: Chem 6BL sucked. A lot.

Feb 2002: Gotta jog the old memory banks quite a bit for this one. I seem to remember a certain valentine's day that involved a trip to the beach that drastically changed the course of my high school senior year. It involved the company of some very good friends, most of whom I haven't seen in a long time. A long, long time. Ok, feeling painfully nostalgic now, which means its time to study the female reproductive system again.

Monical's has awesome pizza.

2007-12-31T23:41:00.000-06:00

Top Ten of 2007
(chronological order)

1. Vegas to see Celine Dion
-if you heard My Heart Will Go On live, you'd of sung along too

2. Getting into medical school
-there are times when I regret this one

3. Disneyland one last time
-Indiana Jones rocks my socks

4. Gwen Stefani concert
-she has catchy songs

5. Boat Cruise!
-infinite food and singing like drunkards from the back of the boat

6. Seeing Jessica Alba at ComicCon
-oooohhhhh baby

7. Chicago visit with the family
-we played a lot of ping pong

8. Coming home for Thanksgiving
-I seriously had dreams of that day during the semester

9. End of First Semester party
-that was a fun end of stress night

10. Old School Reunion
-it felt good to see the old crew again, all of whom were exactly the same

2007-11-19T16:03:00.000-06:00

In the words of Chris Daughtry

After some 98 days in the middle of nowhere Illinois, it only took a 2.5 hour car drive and a 4 hour plane ride, and now I'm back to where things all began. It really does feel like I never left, and everything is exactly the way I remember it (except for the fact that my dad put my ps2 away and I couldnt find the controllers). But my dog still remembers me, my 65 inch TV still works, and the sun shines as often as I remember (I can walk outside without a jacket again!). The one lame thing is that I still gotta study with our impending days of doom (finals) only a mere 3 weeks away. But, a small price to pay to be sitting on my old couch again with Calvin curled up next to me, watching Spider-Man 3 on an actual TV and not my laptop.

"I'm going home
Back to the place where I belong
And where your love has always been enough for me
I'm not running from
No, I think you got me all wrong
I don't regret this life I chose for me
But these places and these faces are getting old
So I'm going home
Well I'm going home"

2007-11-12T00:16:00.000-06:00

Happy November

7 exam day was lame but I survived, the Halloween party at our professor's place was fun, and I am less than a week away from getting out of the cornfields and returning to San Diego.

In the great words of Lucky Day from The Three Amigos, "Gonna make it! Gonna make it! Gonna make it!"

2007-10-30T00:21:00.000-05:00

A few things I would rather be doing right now than study for endless exams (since I'm obviously not doing any studying right now).

Play a really long game of foosball.

Save the world from a terrorist threat within 24 hours, while also wearing a man purse.

Make a seemingly endless journey to Mount Doom while battling evil and vicious creatures and trying to convince yourself that what you're doing is somehow for the good of the world. Wait, that's med school. (joking ... actually not really)

Get married to Jessica Alba.

Take a long nap after a Thanksgiving dinner very far away from MSB.

Yes, one of these will be happening soon enough. And yes, you're still invited to the wedding.

2007-10-21T13:06:00.000-05:00

A few places where I would rather be right now than in my room studying.

Trevi Fountain in Rome

Eiffel Tower in Paris

Las Vegas strip

My wedding to Jessica Alba

My couch back home.

The bad news is that I'll be kinda busy for the next 42 years, and may have a hard time doing any traveling. The good news is that I'll be in one of these places pretty soon. I'll save you some wedding cake.

2007-10-15T16:36:00.000-05:00

Amidst an endless tempest of ten exams over the course of seven days, one thing can always be counted on to brighten my day, and that's seeing LT flying over defenses.

2007-10-06T15:30:00.001-05:00

Professor Quotes Continued

"Education today is very different from the old days, when if you didn't know the answer, they would KILL YOU!"

"So I was actually right. This is why I never listen to students."

"This disease is very common, though its quite rare"

"I'm sorry I haven't yet had the chance to expose myself to you all"

"In other words, the protein is really like a hotdog bun with a really big, long wiener sticking out"

"This type of fracture is a hangman's fracture. It's very significant for medical students around the time of exams."

"That is what you would see if you were to take your canon powershot and take a picture. Just like Sharapova"

2007-09-28T23:23:00.000-05:00

It's Friday night, and for a hard working med student such as myself, that means taking a break from studying and doing something completely wild; namely, borrowing a dvd from the dorm front desk and watching a movie while studying. Tonight, its Collateral, and in the process of watching Tom Cruise blow people away while studying the superior epigastric artery, I had the inspiration to make a list of all the small joys in life my time in Illinois has made me come to appreciate.

1. Watching a movie on my computer while studying, and being glad that I have time to relax (and update my blog).

2. On the few days when I am efficient and responsible in my studying, being able to look at the clock at 11:45 pm and being happy I have the rest of the day to myself.

3. Feeling bad about wasting time on Facebook, and then clicking on "Friends Online Now" and feeling better when I see a list of fellow med students.

4. Taking a glass of grape juice and a glass of lemonade at the cafeteria.

5. My mom calling me to tell me to make close friendships with my classmates, but not too close with the female ones.

6. My mom on the phone saying "Here, say hi to Calvin and I'll put the phone up to his ear! Calvin, it's Michael! No no no! Stop biting that!"

7. Instead of counting how many classes I have A's in, being able to count how many classes I'm not failing.

8. The sight of a vein that I perfectly cleaned out 5 seconds before I accidentally break it.

9. Having conversations concerning the amount of fat cleaned out from our cadaver's lower back while enjoying dinner.

10. Telling people I'm from San Diego, and hearing them all say "Cool! Whale's Vagina!"

2007-09-14T09:36:00.000-05:00

"Sometimes it's not all laid out for you, and you've got to fight – and then you've got to fight some more" -LaDainian Tomlinson

A great quote that can be applied to football, life in general, and especially medical school when you have 8 exams over two days. Time to start fighting.

2007-08-31T17:39:00.000-05:00

Two weeks into med school. Everything is quite fun and relaxing thus far, other than having to study all day long and knowing that eight exams are looming over the horizon. Quick highlights include; an obstacle course during orientation week where we got to climb a wall and pile 20 people onto a 5'X'5 squre, sweetcorn festival which was like a much smaller Del Mar Fair (much smaller), playing some pool and foosball, and getting to work with cadavers including this really big dude that it took 6 of us to flip over.

Fun quotes from our overly enthusiastic microbio professor who likes microbes better than humans:

"Bacteria are winning the war against humans, and I'm often on the side of the bacteria."

"All these animals are insignificant in the world compared to microorganisms"

"You are no different than a MUSHROOM!"

"Your genes are mostly TRASH!! ..... heh heh heh"

"When bacteria mate, it gets promiscuous."

"These bacteria are found in your VAGINAS!! Well, some of you."

"This bacteria is found in your VAGINA!" (he said vagina two lectures in a row, and he's not even an anatomy teacher)

2007-08-14T22:17:00.000-05:00

Well, Mario had to go and not download the latest warcraft patch, so instead of gettin some online gaming going I have to wait 40 minutes for him with nothing to do. So, story time from the land of Urbana.

Since moving into my luxorious dorm three days ago, I have been without a car for the first time in 6 years (3 years if you dont count Reubens the Van as an actual "car"). It isnt that big a deal since I happen to live on campus and the med school is a 5 minute walk away. Plus, there are plenty of bus routes to transport oneself all over the busy and exciting town. I figure there arent too many places I'll be needing to go anyway, and if there are I can just bum a ride off someone else using my natural charm and charisma. But out of sheer boredom, I decided to go ahead and see how long the walk to my new orthodontist would be.

50 minutes later and after passing a weird old guy trying to impress some girl with his kite I showed up outside his office, wishing I had worn shoes instead of my flip flops. Lame. The one bright side was that I ended up at a Hooters which was close by. I briefly considered getting some "hot wings", but then I realized that I would feel even more foolish that I already did if I were to be having lunch at Hooters alone (the creepy old guy with the hooters bag of food played a part in this). So I decided to make the trek back to my dorm, which was just as fun as the previous 50 minutes except for passing the crazy kite guy again (asking someone which way was north) and when I made a wrong turn and somehow ended up walking through the graveyard that they keep on campus (likely to lure undergrads into and feed to zombies).

2007-08-12T17:49:00.000-05:00

Here I am in Urbana-Champaign, Illinois, sitting in my dorm room at the University of Illinois. The week was pretty interesting, starting with a few days spent in Chicago with the folks. We did lots of shopping, including several trips to costco as well as several cool malls. One of the malls downtown was 7 floors and pretty impressive looking, despite the fact that it didn't have any cool stores. The Navy Pier was fun too, and we got to enjoy some good ole fashioned Chicago style hot dogs. Lots of Chicago pizza along with some championship style ping pong made for a great few days.

Thursday we drove down to Urbana-Champaign, where we stayed at the campus hotel and spent the next few days shopping for me. In addition to the 7 trips to walmart, we also sampled the delicious local food at such places as China something Buffet (good but the wonton soup didnt have any wontons), Ruby Tuesdays (hot waitress), Real Hacienda (mexican food tastes just like San Diego), and Red Lobster (hot waitress). All in all I am quie satisfied with the ratio of hot waitresses.

My dorm is actually pretty nice with plenty of space, a microwave, fridge, and an exercise room right next door. I've also got a great view of the side parking lot and a lamp post that shines directy into my room. Props go to the folks for helping move in, including folding and hanging clothes and bedsheets and filling my fridge with leftover red lobster. Though they did lose my nail cutter twice, which is now a potentially disastrous situation.

Well, orientaton doesnt start till tuesday and the university doesnt officially start classes till next week, so there arent many people in the dorms right now. So I'm left here to sit at my computer and reflect on the past, ponder the future, and admire my Jessica Alba poster hung directly above and across my bed so that I can wake up next to her every morning.

2007-07-30T17:55:00.000-05:00

My life is one step closer towards being complete, as last thursday I was able to see none other than Jessica Alba live and in person. Just being in the same room as her was amazing enough, but I think my heart actually stopped working when she stood up to model her shoes. Legendary stuff.

In other comiccon news, I got to see some preview footage of Iron Man which looked awesome, saw a video of Indiana Jones and friends as they film #4, and both the Sylar guy from heroes and Leonard Nimoy standing together (both of whom will be playing Spock). Decently good fun.

Legendary people Mike has had the honor of seeing live (usually from a distance of several feet):
1. Trevor Hoffman - entering the field amidst Hell's Bells
2. LaDainian Tomlinson - I've seen him score 5 touchdowns live, including his all time career long 85 yard run.
3. Jessica Alba - in a skin tight dress and gold shoes. *passes out again*

Honorable Mention goes to Gwen Stefani and Celine Dion.

2007-07-05T01:59:00.000-05:00

Happy 4th of July!!!

First off, a fond farewell goes out to a good friend of mine, MJ aka Michael Jiang. MJ was a great friend throughout all four years of college, and one of the first people I even got to know. The perfect guy to talk to about school, work, sports, movies, tv shows, and just about anything else, MJ was a great person to be around, and I will defintely miss his company as he leaves for grad school at UCLA. So here's to my best ever cruise ship cabin mate! Till we meet again.

Secondly, I got to see two awesome movies in the past week. Live Free or Die Hard was an all out awesome action movie, with lots of explosions, gun fights, car chases, and of course Bruce Willis. Great stuff. I also saw Transformers, which featured giant morphing robots duking it out. The special effects in this movie were amazing, and all the transformers looked really cool. It was so great, that I'm now planning on getting myself at least one transformer toy.
The Last Summer continues ...

2007-06-26T19:17:00.001-05:00

Cruise Trip to Ensenada was tons and tons of fun. It was my first cruise since going with my family about 15 years ago (also to Ensenada) and was an awesome trip all round. Our ship was the Monarch of the Seas, and was a mighty fine ship, despite the rooms being pretty tight (as in small, not sexy). The food of course was awesome, with a couple buffet breakfasts and lunches and of course some unbeatable sit down dinners. We ordered multiple appetizers, entrees, and deserts including such things as shrimp, lobster bisque, snail (yum), steak, beef, turkey, pasta, and others I can't even remember. Our table of six guys often saw up to 18 plates of food overflowing the table space. Good stuff, and props must go to our waiters. Besides the food, we also spent half a day walking around Ensenada, which included eating at an authentic Mexican restaurant (cant tell the difference from Rodrigos in penasquitos). On the boat we enjoyed such things as a comedy show, magic show, musical, 70's night at the club, pool party (where they played the same songs), sleeping by the pool, playing cards, playing basketball, playing in a trivia game, and hanging out at the bow of the ship singing songs. Without a doubt a vacation to remember.

Other events of note worth mentioning include a return to the Fair to see engelbert humperdinck (my mom's favorite singer) and eating a krispy kreme fried chicken sandwich (awesome). Also, I finally left the lab of doom!!!!! Whooooooo!! Hendrik (in tears when he realized he would have to start doing work) treated me to lunch in la jolla at a place with an awesome view of the ocean, and the half of the lab that hadnt left for italy took me to Rendezvous in Del Mar (french name serving chinese food). All in all a busy last couple of days, and now its time to start enjoying my last weeks in San Diego.

2007-06-19T00:58:00.000-05:00

"Can I get four tickets for Fantastic Four for four oclock?"

This weekend I got to see Fantastic Four Rise of the Silver Surfer, starring Jessica Alba, which was awesome, exciting, beautiful, profound, and perfect. And the movie wasn't bad either. Lots of fun action and super powered special effects, and defintely better than the first one. Plus Jessica Alba was in it. Silver Surfer looked pretty cool too, and Dr. Doom got to fly around and shoot lightning bolts at people. Really the only complaint I have is that Jessica Alba only got naked once (although at least she didnt disappear as often in this one). The movie was good fun all the way through though, and between Spider-man, Pirates, and Fantastic Four, this is actually my favorite blockbuster thus far this summer. And Jessica Alba was hot.

I actually saw this movie with the folks, which puts into perspective the fact that these next couple weeks will see the last few times that the Imus Fantastic Four (that was clever) will still be a team. And one of the themes of the movie was the idea of teams and families and solidarity, which makes me kinda sad that our Foursome will be temporarily disbanding in the near future. You dont expect to learn many things from superhero movies, but this one really did get me thinking about how much our family is gonna change. And I think the most important thing I've learned in comparing my family's challenges with such similar struggles as alien invasions and molecular instability and planet consuming immortal beings is ... I wish Jessica Alba lived in my house.

2007-06-13T20:57:00.000-05:00

An Ode To Vic's Birthday (first seen on Vic's facebook wall)

Victor Chiu is the best
He's the coolest guy in the West
I've known the guy since first grade
Many video games we both have played
After all these years as friends I now must say
I never opened the present you gave me for my birthday.

Last weekend the folks and I made it out to the San Diego County Fair thanks to some $1 tickets courtesy of Ralphs. The last couple times that I've gone there (all with Vic and Mario) we've always parked in that free dirt patch and taken the London double decker shuttle, but seeing as how i was the driver my parents thought it would be worth me paying for parking and trying to find a spot. So as soon as I pay $9 and head right into 2mph traffic, my mom says something like "turn in here, i think some people are leaving" to which i respond "There's not gonna be a spot right in front of the park!!" which results in my mom giving one of her famous lectures about how finding a spot in a parking lot is a metaphor for life, and if I'm ever going to be successful in the future I have to be more aggressive at finding parking spots. So long story short, I turn into the second row and find about three parking spots in front of the park.

The park itself was just as good as usual, and consisted of funnel cake, little kids running screaming out of rides, overly expensive midway games, salesmen saying things like "Want a good buy? Goodbye!!", gardens with lots of flowers, a wood crafts room, and a rock exhibit with displays called "Paul's Big Balls" and "Paul's Small Balls". Good fun.

2007-05-31T01:59:00.000-05:00

Memorial Day Weekend was a great three days off!

Saturday our friend the long absent in body but forever present in spirit Vic called me up, and after he and Amy came over to say hi to Calvin, we headed over to the fancy but not too pricey Champagne Bistro for some dinner. Their chicken was pretty good, as was the lemon tart and multi chocolate desert. Afterwards was some old fashioned cutthroat pool, where I think I won one game. Good times yo.

Sunday I went to see Pirates of the Caribbean, which I liked, but still not as good as the first. The last hour was pretty cool with all the fighting amidst a maelstrom and Jack swinging on ropes. Plus, they showed Keira Knightley's leg near the end of the movie, which looked really hot and made the 2 hours and 45 minutes well worth it. Movie: A-, Keira Knightley's Leg: A+

Afterwards we had an Imus family barbecue on the Imus grill, which first required an emergency drive to Vons when we couldnt find any charcoal. But, we had some awesomely grilled steaks, ribs and chicken, plus costco potatoe salad, making for one of the best memorial day weekends in recent history.

2007-05-08T23:14:00.000-05:00

First of all, after a measly two years, I got called to jury duty AGAIN. This time, I was lucky enough to not be one of the first people called during jury selection, so I got to just sit back and enjoy listening to other people talk about their lives. To tell the truth it actually wasnt too bad, and you'd be surprised how many people have funny stories to share in response to the question "Has anyone here ever suffered an injury that wasn't your fault?". Plus, it got me out of a going to lab for the day, and I have to say sitting with random people in a courtroom was more interesting than sitting with bacteria in the laboratory of infinite abyss and sorrow.

Secondly, I had dinner with our old friend in time from days long past and buried, Derek Wu. We enjoyed some good ole Fudruckers burgers while remembering the good ole days and discussing our diverging futures (derek heads to sweltering hot texas while i journey to snowy illinois). So here's a fond farewell to Mr. Derek Wu Who Is Never on AIM and Takes a Week to Respond to Facebook Wall Posts :P

Lastly, I saw Spider-Man 3 on opening weekend! The theater was packed full, which resulted in me sitting next to sarcastic asian teenagers who laughed whenever peter parker cried. Overall, I have to say its probably my favorite of the three movies, but ill probably have to see it again to make a final judgment. The thing that bugged me the most was Venom talking with Topher Grace's dorky voice. And the part when Spider-Man and Sandman look at each other all teary eyed and he goes "I forgive you!". Lame-ooo!

Mike's Top Ten Favorite Comic Movies (of the last 5 years):
1. Batman Begins
2. X-Men 2
3. Spider-Man 3
4. Spider-Man 2
5. Spider-Man
6. Fantastic Four
7. X-Men 3
8. Sin City scenes with Jessica Alba
9. Ultimate Avengers (animated)
10. Toss up between X-Men, Superman Returns, Daredevil

2007-04-24T21:01:00.000-05:00

The Sweet Escape

This weekend I got to see none other than Gwen Stefani at Coors Amphitheater. She sounds great live and puts on an awesome show, so it was well worth the 2+ hours it took to actually get into the parking lot (not to mention the 2 hours getting out). Her music can be a bit funky, but it definitely grows on you, especially after hearing her perform live. Taking a trip down memory lane, some may recall that No Doubt was actually my first favorite band ever, so its kinda neat that 10 years after first hearing their CD, I finally get to see her in concert. Good stuff yo.

2007-04-11T23:31:00.000-05:00

In my semi-offical quest to enjoy San Diego before exiling myself to illinois for the next four years, I recently enjoyed trips to Julien and Petco Park. Julien consisted of pie tasting as usual, along with that awesome dudley's fruit bars. The best part of the day though was me doing my impersonation of Krang on the drive home.

Padres game was fun, except that they lost. I'm pretty sure that I'm bad luck to the Padres, but only against divisional opponents. So from now on, no more giants, dodgers, rockies, or dback games, and everything should be peachy. I did get to see my new hero Adrien Gonzalez jack TWO homeruns, so at least that was pretty cool.

24 was awesome. Jack Bauer takes out SEVEN terrrorists with backup coming about 2 seconds late. Whew. Jack is the man.

"Damn Jack."

2007-04-04T02:11:00.000-05:00

So I got accepted to the University of Illinois College of Medicine, and that will be where I will spend the next four years of my life being overloaded with work. Its a good school and I'm very relieved to have gotten in; it seriously makes all the long days of MCAT studying, volunteering, and all that other stuff I had to do just to get in all feel worth it. Phew. Hopefully I'll get into the Chicago campus, and not have to live in hillbillyville, but I think I'll be happy whichever campus I end up at. Though I'm definitely going to miss the San Diego weather.

I also didn't get a spring break, thanks to the abyss that is my lab, but I did get to spend the weekend at Disneyland with the folks, which felt like a neat little vacation in itself. We stayed at a hotel right across the street from the park, and brought the furry guy Calvin with us too. The park was just as fun as when I was there 6 months ago, and I got to ride Indiana Jones twice. Go Fast Pass!!

Padres: 1-0

2007-03-25T01:48:00.000-05:00

So this whole week has been really lame due to a number of suckey things all happening at the same time. These include, but are not limited to, catching a bad cold, getting some gross eye infection, finding out I have really bad gums (although my new dental hygeinist is pretty hot), getting rejected from utah, screwing up in lab, and having one of the evil barons of doom see me rest during my 2 minutes of downtime and deciding that I didnt have enough to do and thusly giving me annoying busy work. But, the week definitely picked up towards the end with a couple of bright spots, including getting to go to see.........

Wheel of Fortune!!!

This was actually pretty fun, and we got to see Pat Sajak (who walked 2 feet by me) and Vanna White (who's actually kinda hot) all while doing their Sunny San Diego tour, complete with a San Diego style set and background. Everything moved relatively quickly, except when they had to refilm one of the contestants fake-winning one of the puzzles (it was all a conspiracy to make the asian guy lose). All in all some good fun.

2007-03-04T01:55:00.000-06:00

A Happy Birthday to one Super Mario!!! Lasagna, korean bbq, nintendo wii, elephants, and catchphrase was good fun. One of these days we'll go fishing and have popcorn and toast just like we always say we will :P

2007-02-24T02:12:00.000-06:00

Adventures in Chicago

Spent a couple days in the snowy world of Illinois. Chicago was cool as always, and we also drove down to the small town of Peoria. Despite being in the middle of nowhere, it did have a red lobster and a circuit city, so i guess its not such a bad place afterall. Got to hang with a couple of my married and successful cousins, all while eating some buffet breakfast and watching the Hulk on tv.

Mom: "Wanna hold the baby Mike?"
Me: "Sure!"
Cousin: "I think it's time to change her diaper."
Me: "Here ya go"

2007-02-09T02:30:00.000-06:00

Return to UCSD

After about half a year, I made my triumphant return to the campus of UCSD for interviews. Got to see some familiar faces, as well as meet lots of cool new people. Activities were pretty fun, other than the interviews themselves, and consisted of dinner at some italian place in downtown la jolla, dinner at some thai place in hillcrest with professors, bonfire at the shores, walking around Salk, talking about cancer biology, dinner at the Birch aquarium, and going for a hike through torrey pines reserve and the beautiful beach. Wow, if it comes to it, I will really hate leaving San Diego. And getting to talk science with some of the new professors as well as spend time with the grad students has made the appeal of devoting the rest of my life to a lab slightly better, especially if I'll be able to study something i love with people i like.

Alas, the crossroads of life becomes much more foggy.

2007-02-04T01:35:00.000-06:00

Back from Irvine.

The school was surprisingly pretty, although the great weather may have had something to do with it. Lots of new buildings, so everything seemed rather high tech and modern. And I have to say, after doing interviews in Utah and Philadelphia, I seriously don't know why anyone would EVER leave southern california.

Met some pretty cool people too. Its always interesting meeting peeps who look like they know nothing about anything, and then all of a sudden start telling you about their work crystallizing the structure of a synthetic viral protein. There was also some pretty hot girls there (hot + interested in biological sciences = super hot), a fact which alone is making the decision between med school and grad school that much more difficult. My roommate was pretty cool, but he spent the nights out with relatives he had in town, which meant the big comfy bed for me and lots of uninhibited tv watching (friday night was smackdown, nba games, First Knight, and Star Wars).

The actual recruitment stuff wasnt so bad. They fed us some decent (and free) food, and the actual interviews were pretty laid back. I can say without a doubt that interviewing for grad school is MUCH better than interviewing for med school. Here's a comparison:

Food
Med: free lunch
Grad: free breakfast, lunch, and dinner

Travel
Med: do it yourself
Grad: free flight reservations made, gas reimbursed

Hotel
Med: do it yourself
Grad: free reservations made, with a big comfy bed that had 8 pillows

Typical Question
Med: How do you fix health care in America?
Grad: How are you enjoying the day?

Extra Fun
Med: Tour of the cadaver lab
Grad: Tour of the beaches

So now that the pain of the experience is over, I can say that overall it was kinda fun. And if there was one thing gained from the whole thing, it would have to be a greater appreciation for the beauty that is So Cal. And a love of hot girls who study neurobiological diseases.

2007-01-28T01:33:00.000-06:00

Well, Mike is still alive and kicking, trying to survive the days of endless hours in the dungeon of bacillus subtilis and the neverending trips to interviews in far away lands. Of course, not being in school for the first time in a long time has its benefits, so here's a sampling of the things I do to keep myself from wanting to spend extra hours in lab (that will never happen).

1. 24 Season 6 - still the best show ever. This season has set itself up to be one of the more exciting ones, especially considering that they've already set a nuke off (goodbye magic mountain), and that the main terrorist has FOUR more suitcase nukes!!! Also good is the fact that they have a new hot girl now that Michelle is dead and Kim is gone.

2. Smackdown vs. Raw 2006 - good clean fun when you feel like giving someone the Rock Bottom through the top of a Hell in a Cell (and pretending its my boss!!)

3. Michelle Branch - currently playing in the car I drive to work in, the mp3 player I walk my dog with, and the CD player I fall asleep too. Great music that you can sing along too in any occasion. And she's hot.

Ok, this post was just an excuse to put hot girls on my blog. Keeping with that intention, here's one of the greatest musical performances in history;

2007-01-15T14:31:00.000-06:00

Sadness. Such sadness.

I feel like my best friend has moved away to a foreign country. Like my dog just died. Like I needed one more A to get into med school and got a B+. Like I just proposed to Jessica Alba and she said no. Like Jack Bauer just died.

I've had to get over some pretty tough ones over the years, but this one is gonna take some time.

Please only talk to me if you have happy things to say.

2007-01-10T01:19:00.000-06:00

Happy 2007!

First of all, here's the greatest video ever;

So 2007 started off with a week off from the heck that is lab to make a triumphant family return to Vegas. We stayed at the now pirate free Treasure Island, which thankfully has a nice bathroom. Everything else was mostly the same as before, but thanks to it being post-holidays, there were fewer people around and thus almost no lines into the buffets. Good stuff. Other highlight includes seeing Celine Dion live, which was pretty cool. Lots of dancing, flying props, and a big screen we couldn't see because our seats were all the way to the left side. Celine is a really good singer live, and you know she was singing live because in the middle of one of the songs she told one of the dancers that he was running the wrong direction. Anyway, the she sang most of the hits, and I nearly got goosebumps when she sang My Heart Will Go On.

Then I came home and woke up with a stomach ache and dazed head and felt exhausted and sick all weekend. And now I'm back to spending half my days with bacteria.

Coming up, 24 premiere and the Chargers!!

2006-12-31T23:06:00.000-06:00

Top Ten of 2006
In chronological order ...

1. Marshall Semi Formal, March – gotta put this one in since it’s the last college dance ever. Some quality mexican food and a little YMCA make for a good night out.

2. Padre game, May – I went to a bunch of Padres games this year, and they only won two. I choose this one though since it’s the only one where I got to hear Hell’s Bells and see Trevor Hoffman save the game. Exciting stuff.

3. Beach Ultimate Frisbee, June – this is an odd one to include, but it was the day of my last college final in history, and it included some burgers, karaoke, and a trip to historic La Jolla Shores, which makes it a bookends of sorts (significant La Jolla Shores trip the summer before college started). Ultimate frisbee is fun, especially since I scored a touchdown. (pic is of professional ultimate frisbee'ers)

4. UCSD Graduation, June – its over and done with! Sat next to our old friend Vic, which makes for another bookend of our long and distinguished educational careers. Quick ceremony with 5 minute speeches makes for a good graduation.

5. Disneyland with the folks, June – This was a fun trip to kick off the summer, and a return to the happiest place on Earth. Props to Indiana Jones and the Buzz Lightyear game. We were the only family to wait in line to see Mickey Mouse that didn't include someone under 10 years old. And they still talked to me like a kid.

6. Lifehouse, June – this was the first show I’ve seen in awhile, and I really like Lifehouse. Great music, plus hanging around the San Diego County Fair makes for a good summer day.

7. Disneyland with peeps, September – Another return to the land of long lines, this time with lots of people. Indiana Jones was fun, as was space mountain, Fantasmic, and Denny's. A great day morning to night.

8. Utah, November – my first med school interview, along with a weekend exploring Salt Lake City with the Mom. This was a very introspectful (I made that word up) trip, complete with lots of thinking, shopping, and cheering on the chargers through the radio.

9. Palm Springs with the Folks, November – Thanksgiving in the land of Palm trees with the whole family, furry guy included.

10. Charger game, December - my first Charger game in awhile. Got to see my hero LaDainian Tomlinson on an 85 YARD touchdown run, which resulted in lots of cheering and screaming by your’s truly. I'm still jumping up and down.

Honorable Mention – Julian trip with Mario and MJ, Halloween with CEC, family trip to San Francisco, fondue with Kiger lab, car show with Vic, seeing Derek for the first time in 2 years, pool with Vic, Vic’s birthday, Dave and Busters for my birthday. Here's to more moments in 2007.

2006-12-26T01:00:00.000-06:00

Merry Christmas!!

Of course, Christmas would be better if I didn't have to spend more quality time in lab tomorrow, but I guess I can't complain about a few days off for hot chocolate and ham with the folks. And a game winning touchdown throw with 30 seconds left in the game. Wooo!

"That's what Christmas is all about Charlie Brown."

2006-12-18T22:45:00.000-06:00

Got to go to the Chargers game last night!!!

WOOOOOO!! It was a primetime night game, which made things extra dramatic, and we had pretty good seats too. My life is now complete, as I was present to witness LT bust out an 85 yard touchdown run, the longest of his career. The crowd was going crazy and they had fireworks bursting all over the place while I was jumping up and down screaming; it was easily amongst the top five moments of my life, and that even includes the time I met jessica alba (in my dreams). There was also a really cool flyby by some jets that flew right over the stadium, which was pretty neato. Anyway, the Chargers won and I got to see LaDainian Tomlinson run for 199 yards, two touchdowns, and the longest run of his career and most exciting experience of my life, so all in all a good day.

I've been hard on the lab recently, but props must be given to Big Boss himself for treating the lab out to lunch and giving me a glass of wine for christmas. My lab building also had a christmas party type thing, complete with shrimp, sushi, and macoroni and cheese topped with blueberries.

Also a Christmas dinner with some peeps at someone's apartment in Mission Valley, which was good fun and included much better food. I got the Goonies on DVD from the gift exchange, and we also played a good game of Mafia. The good guys won, but I was cop and ended up getting killed right before we got the last mafia member. I like to think of it as dying in the line of duty to save the world.

Us four hours before the game.

Our great view of the Chargers kicking butt in primetime.

I got a decent shot of LT himself during practice!

2006-12-11T21:48:00.000-06:00

San Diego Chargers: 2006 AFC West Champions
LT: New single season touchdown record, and greatest player ever.

"I believe he's the finest running back I've ever seen in professional football" -Marty Schottenheimer"For all the skills he has as a player, they pale by comparison to the person" -Marty Schottenheimer
"Once I got over the pylon, my initial thought process was to bring every guy on the offensive unit over to share that moment. When we're old and can't play this game anymore, them are the moments we are going to remember, that we'll be able to tell our kids, tell our grandchildren. We can talk about something special that We did. We made history today" -LT, the greatest ever.

2006-12-05T18:23:00.000-06:00

An Ode to Christmas in Lab

On the 12th day of lab work, my PI gave to me ...

Twelve hour growth curves
Eleven strains to transform
Ten anthrax mutants
Nine acidic compounds
Eight minutes in the cold room
Seven tubes on fire
Six bugs contagious
Fiiiiiiiiive golden e. coli cultuuuuuuuures!!!
Four useless papers
Three boring meetings
Two scary bosses
Aaaaaannd a work day after Christmaaaaaassss!!!!

2006-11-26T20:32:00.000-06:00

Continuing with the family tradition of vacations to random places, Thanksgiving 2006 took place at Palm Springs. Overall it was a good relaxing time, comprised mostly of shopping, casino playing, star wars monopoly, and a James Bond marathon. The 2 hour drive also required sitting next to a 100 lb dog that, although soft as a pillow, sheds constantly. But the turkey was great as always, in addition to the pumpkin pie made by yours truly, (using one of those premade can things). So, all in all another successful Imus vacation.

Props to Mario for giving me the heads up on Target's sale; 24 seasons 1-4 for $16 each. They ran out of season 2 by the time i stopped by, but at least i picked up season 3, which is good cuz thats the one where Michelle kicks some butt. Good stuff.

Gloating of the Victorious Part 6
It wasn't the prettiest game ever, but in the end we laid it out against our enemies. LT had 2 TD's along with a TD pass. That was beautiful.

Chargers 21
Raiders 14

2006-11-21T15:44:00.000-06:00

Moments in Time

Inspired by my recent reunion with our friend from days long past, Mr Derek Wu himself, I decided to put together a little countdown of some of the more memorable moments involving our long time friend. (In reality, this is just me testing my ability to remember useless and forgotten memories and try to make jokes out of them).

In no particluar order, except the order in which they popped into my head:
1. April 2000 - Balboa Park: Steps on hamster at Earth Day festival; Actually, I'm not sure what kind of animal it was, but Big D stepped right on it (it survived).
2. April 2001- Balboa Park: Walks all the way back to the parking lot to check where we parked. When we return at the end of the day, his car is the ONLY car in an EMPTY lot. "Good thing you took the time to check where we parked!"
3. December 2002 - Mission Valley: After getting to AMC theaters 2 hours early to get tickets for The Two Towers, Derek decides he's hungry, so me and him head over to McDonalds to get food while vic and jen save our seats in the theater. Great plan, except that derek has the tickets, meaning vic and jen have to wait OUTSIDE the theater. So after arriving 2 hours early for the movie, we end up getting seats 2 rows in front of the screen on the ground floor.
4. June 2004 - Mt. Carmel High: In the car, on our way to crash Eupheme's graduation, Derek asks me if I brought a camera. I pull it out of my pocket and say "Here it is!". After hiking down from hilltop all the way to the field, I realize I left the camera in the car, thanks to Derek asking me if I had it. Therefore, no pictures of Eupheme's graduation. (In retrospect, this was probably my fault).
5. Sometime in Spring 1999 - Mr. Rankin's Bio Class: Derek drops a snail (or some sort of gross animal we were studying) down the sink, which prompts Mr. Rankin to draw a picture of a snail on the chalkboard calling out to Derek.
6. Sometime in Spring 2000 - Escondido Humane Society: Hanging out with Derek in the "running around" area, when Jen walks by with a dog, who promptly runs and escapes her grasp. This results in several loud expletives from Jen, prompting Derek to climb the fence, jump over it, and then tackle the dog and grab his leash. You know that TV show Heroes? Derek's power is saving dogs.
7. August 2003 - Poway Lake: The last major gathering of our group saw many humorous moments. The only one that remotely involves Derek was when he was sitting next to Jen while we all encouraged her to eat a bee that fell into someone's soda. She promptly dropped the dead bee into her mouth, captured forever in history in the infamous "Jen Eating a Bee" Picture with Derek right by her side. (See the picture here!)
8. May 2001 - Eric's House: Building our historic physics boat (the greatest aquatic transportation unit in history), Derek, Jen, and I somehow decide to test the boat by jumping in Eric's pool while in our clothes. This leads to many soaked clothes.

Ok, I can't think of anymore, so I'll just close by saying thanks to Derek Wu, for being a part of such memorable moments in all of our lives. Look for Moments in Time, Vic and Jen editions in the future.

2006-11-19T23:14:00.000-06:00

Chargers: 35
Broncos: 27
The biggest game of the season so far results in another great win by the Chargers, who are now in first place in the AFC west.

LaDainian Tomlinson. What else can you say, other than that the guy can run, catch, throw, and score touchdowns every single week. MVP for sure this year. He's without a doubt the greatest football player in the world today, and one day the best ever, but what really makes him speacial is that he's a good person also, every bit worthy of being the hero that he is in San Diego. No endzone dances, no "look at me" motions, no "give me the ball more" speeches, no police entanglements, just touchdown after touchdown after touchdown.

2006-11-13T18:11:00.000-06:00

Hats off to the San Diego Chargers, who pulled off an amazing 21 point comeback victory in the greatest shootut since the matrix lobby scene. Philip Rivers is awesome, and LT is simply the greatest of all time. 4 touchdowns, including one where a guy was grabbing his face mask but still couldnt stop him, and another where he starts towards the outside, then makes a great cutback for the game winning score. Beautiful stuff.

In other news, I had lunch with our old friend from days long past, Big D himself, Derek Wu. It was fun catching up on how things had changed over the last 2 + years, made even more entertaining thanks to the waitor who kept talking about the Chargers, along with an always welcome Best Buy stop afterwards. Seeing Derek again brought back a couple heart warming memories of the good ole days, such as studying for chem tests, writing up lab reports, and studying for the AP physics test. Ok, so maybe those werent such heart warming memories.

But that Physics boat was the greatest paper and wood water vehicle ever conceived in history. In history.

2006-11-09T18:25:00.000-06:00

At A Crossroads

Well, here I am at work waiting around for bacteria to grow and being bored, so I figure this is as good a time as any to sit back and do a candid reflection on the current status of life.

For those of you that don't know, the Life of Mike Post Grad consists of spending 8+ hours a day at the Scripps Research Institute working my laboratory magic on yet another endless supply of plasmids and bacterial mutants. The pay is good, and the dude i work for lets me come in late if i have dentist appointments and take 2 hour lunch breaks which i spend at chipotle and napping at the beach. Plus, the actual work is relatively easy compared to labs past, just in greater quantity and length of time. So overall being a part of the working class isnt so bad, especially since it allows me to buy new DVDs quite often (despite the fact that our TV broke).

All the while, I've been spending my free time applying to numerous med schools and grad schools. As of now, med school is the hope, while grad school is the backup, although this has gone back and forth a few times over the years (actually, i dont think med school can ever qualify as a backup). The official reason i choose med school over grad school (aka what i say during interviews) is that being a doctor lets you see the people you're helping, while working in a lab means looking at gels all day without knowing when or if what you're doing will ever lead to a groundbreaking discovery that will benefit all of mankind. This is also the actual reason, with the added footnote of not wanting to spend the next 8 or so years in a lab (as opposed to the next 8 or so years in a hospital). But, bio research does have its bright points, and the real key to enjoying a lab is (1) studying something that interests you and that somehow matters, and (2) working in a lab with people that you dont mind spending half your life with. The hampton lab qualified for #2, but i still havent quite figured out #1.

Anyway, now i'm not so sure what the point of this whole post was, so i think ill just conclude by saying that life right now is at a bit of a crossroads, and I'm just waiting till one of the paths opens up, trying to read the signs and picking the right road (unlike in beauty and the beast when maurice stupidly goes down the dark and gloomy road instead of the bright and cheery one). Moral of the story, always bring along a horse, cuz the horse will try and lead you down the right path, and if you go the wrong way youll be attacked by wolves and the horse will run away while you get stuck in the beast's castle.

2006-11-01T17:58:00.000-06:00

Awkward Moment of the Week

(Talking to someone from the University of Utah)
Utah: So, do you have any questions at this time?
Me: Hmm, no, nope. I'm good.
Utah: AHH HAH HAH HAH HA HA HA haaa I'm sure you are.

???????? Eh?? Not quite sure what that was all about. The best explanation I can come up with is that Utah'ians don't use the phrase "I'm good", in which case she probably thought I was saying something like "I'm good at knowing things!!" and was being incredibly arrogant. Eh. Either that or she thought I was saying "I'm God", which would explain the laughter, since you wouldn't expect someone applying to school to say "Accept me into your program, because I AM GOD!". Anyway, it was odd.

2006-10-22T21:05:00.000-05:00

Mike's 5 Up, 3 Down more ups than downs cuz Mike is optimistic :P

3 Down
1. YouTube - removing music videos and such "due to terms of use violation". I want to watch JoJo's music videos!

2. Steve Wynn - right about to sell a Picasso for $139 million dollars when he accidentally puts a hole in it with his elbow. Ouchie.
3. People on Deal or No Deal - saying no deal when there's only one high amount left - take the freakin $150,000!

5 Up
1. The bosses - being out of town for a few days and Hendrik letting me go home early - yay!
2. Breast Cancer Awareness Month - join the group on Facebook!
3. Heroes - this is a pretty cool show, this year with more "Whoaaa!!!" moments than Lost.
4. Battlestar Galactica - this show also rocks, but needs more Boomer.
5. Jessica Alba -no explanation necessary.

2006-10-15T22:14:00.000-05:00

Last weekend Mario and MJ sponsored a trip to Dave and Busters in honor of yours truly, leading to lots of arcade game fun. Highlights included blasting some criminal butt at police 911 and time crisis 4, beating mario at fast and the furious, losing to MJ by a split second at need for speed, and splitting 2 games of baseball against the giants. Good fun all around.

And, the Twin Barons of All that is Evil and Terrifying (aka the heads of the lab) are out of town for the next few days, which means some good ole leaving the lab early to come home and watch some TV. Woooo!

This is why they call him Superman:

2006-10-01T22:37:00.000-05:00

Happy October~

Return to Disneyland yesterday with tons of people. Everything was just as fun as the last time I was there (a whole 3 months ago) except this time with even more friends. Indiana Jones is still the greatest ride ever, and we got to ride it twice which was cool. Got to see the new pirates, which i thought was exactly the same except for a few jack sparrow's here and there. The holiday version of the haunted mansion was nifty, and was much more colorful than i'm used too. Fantasmic was actually a lot cooler than i remember, so i'm glad we got to see that too, in addition to the 50th anniversary parade and fireworks thingy. All in all a good saturday in september.

Padres NL West Division Champions!!! We are sooo going all the way this year!! Woooooooo!!!

2006-09-21T01:09:00.000-05:00

"So I want you do this, this, and this, and do it like this. Wow, that looks like it might take a long time. Mind if I leave early?" -my boss Hendrick.

2006-09-17T22:13:00.000-05:00

Return to Julian yesterday with Mario and MJ! Fun Stuff. We tried pies from a couple of the places, got some of that great fruit bar stuff from dudley's, and stopped by that one candy store again where mario ate a piece of candy that may or may not have been a free sample. Also drove by a lake that was nearby, which was pretty big and watery but required lots of money to park next to so we just drove around it and left. The best moment of the day came when mario was talking and accidentally spit something out of his mouth and MJ goes "Ow my eye!!!".

The Padres and The Chargers are both in first place. Woooo!

2006-09-13T23:08:00.000-05:00

Gloating of the Victorious 2006 (5 in a row)

This season has started off perfectly, as for the 5th time on this blog, i get to describe how our Chargers decimated, incinerated, frustrated, obliterated, devastated, humiliated, and down right murder-ated the sad and hopeless group of guys who for some reason call themselves a football team.

LT = Man Who Cannot Be Stopped Whether He Is Running On The Ground Or Flying Through The Air

Chargers 27
Raiders 0

2006-09-06T23:17:00.000-05:00

I'm playing madden on my ps2 (not the new'07 madden, just the old school / ghetto '03 one), beating the '86 all madden team with my super chargers when my freakin TV shuts off!! Just shuts off!! My first instinct was that calvin probably stepped on the power cable and pulled it loose, but this obviously wasnt the case when i realized that the TV is pressed up against the wall and it is nearly impossible to get behind it. So after hopeless wire checking and fist banging I checked online for problems similar to "TV shuts off and doesnt come on no matter what the heck you do" and have come to the realization that some capacitor or ohms resistor in the TV has shorted out. Meaning, we need to get a new TV cuz our big one is broken and too old to be worth fixing! Nooooooo. Such good memories with this one, I feel like I'm losing a close friend. A really close friend that costs a couple hundred bucks to replace. So sad.

Hendrick (german guy) "Is it true that French drink wine for breakfast?"
Quentin (french guy) "No. Is it true that Germans drink beer for breakfast?"
Hendrick: "No"
Yay for laboratories promoting international awareness.

2006-09-03T01:46:00.000-05:00

One of the many things that makes YouTube so great is its abundance of quality concert performances. Its almost the equivalent of the golden age of napster when you could download any random song you wanted, except you get to see them performing too. Naturally, since Michelle Branch is one of the greatest musical artists of all time, I've been spending time watching a few of her amazing performances. Great stuff. Become musically satisfied by watching this and that.

In other news involving the exciting aspects of my life, lab is still more of the same. Hendrick "The Terminator" has been busy writing a grant proposal for the Big Boss, which leaves me basically alone to conduct his experiments. Sounds great, except it gets slightly lonely, especially now that our old friend Catherine has left as a result of some laboratory soap opera drama. Which leaves me as the only young person in a sea of smart but old people, other than Polly the dish washer who only comes twice a week. All of which makes it quite difficult to talk about the VMA winners or the upcoming Xmen 3 DVD.

Went to a Padres game again, sitting in the same section that last time provided such a great view of the back of Brian Giles' jersey, except now in the very last row. This was an interesting seat, since despite being almost directly across from the scoreboard, we could barely see the bottom half of it thanks to the overhang above. Drat. And, right behind and below us was one of the food stands, so we were smelling burning food for a good portion of the game. At least this made it easy to people-watch all the folks in line (aka look for girls). Anyway, they gave away Padres drinking glasses, so I guess it was all worth it.

And joyous celebration in response to 24 winning best actor and best drama emmys.

"You disobeyed a direct order from the President!"
"I know"

2006-08-23T21:27:00.000-05:00

Here's something to get the old nostalgia flowing (the song, not the video). Extra credit to anyone who remembers what its from! (hint: high school)

So I'm eating at Fins and getting myself a couple cups of their special spicy salsa, when I accidentally spill some of the SPICY salsa and it splashes RIGHT INTO MY EYE. What the heck? I spend half my day playing with hydrochloric acid and ethidium bromide, and SPICY SALSA ends up getting into my eye?? It hurt quite a bit, and for a few moments I actually wondered what I would look like wearing an eye patch for the rest of my life. Now most people would probably laugh about getting spicy hot salsa in an eye, but let me tell you that along with such a comedically perfect event comes some incredibly intense stinging.

Anyway, that was the most exciting thing thats happened to me in the last few days.

2006-08-17T02:16:00.000-05:00

4 years and 372 posts later, and Mike's blog reaches its fourth anniversary!!

An Ode To Four Years Later

So here we go just one more time
Yes its Mike reminiscing all done in rhyme
We've seen so much here on this old blog
A new car and new friends, a new job and new dog.
As I read and remember each old post
I cant help but offer just one more toast.
Here's to college, for changing me.
How I survived is still a mystery.
Here's to vacations to random places.
Vegas always put a smile on our faces.
Here's to the concerts, more than a few.
Ah who am i kidding, I only went to two.
Here's to the movies, all the big summer hits,
That I saw with my friends, like Revenge of the Sith.
Here's to each random and pointless post,
Cuz those are the ones I like to read most.
Here's to my friends, who show up here and there,
Some hardly ever, it doesnt seem fair.
Here's to the sad things that made my life tough,
This blog always let me vent out and cool off.
And here's to what happens or what anyone says,
I'll figure out my life One of These Days.

2006-08-16T02:14:00.000-05:00

“I’m a better person today than I was 16 years ago, and I’m proud of that. Because of that fact, I leave in peace.”

2006-08-13T19:33:00.000-05:00

Yes, Mike is still alive despite the lack of posts recently.

You can usually find me everyday throughout the week at Chipotle, sometime between 11am-1pm taking a break from the gels and bacteria. So come pay me a visit and we can discuss the difference between black and pinto beans.

2006-07-21T22:45:00.000-05:00

So, the Life of Mike Post-College has gotten underway, and I started my new life as a Research Technician. The new lab is pretty cool, and the post doc I work for doesnt seem too much like a slave driver, so things should be good. He speaks with a german accent and almost reminds me of Arnold the Terminator (ok not really) and he also took me out to lunch, which gets Mike's stamp of approval. Everyone else in the lab seems cool so far, including our old friend Catherine from microbio lab, putting all those bacteriology skills to use. So far I've pretty much been doing the transformations, restriction digests, and DNA preps I've already spent too much of my life doing, but at least I'm getting paid for it now, so its all good.

I also started just in time for the annual summer picnic, which consisted of lots of free food, ice cream, and raffle drawings that I didnt win. Also had my palm read, and according to the fortune teller I will meet a love that will be "stronger than my first one", will "continue to learn when I'm sitting in a rocking chair" and will be "extremely successful in my career and business". Even better was when I first sat down and she said "So, I'll bet you're a scientist". Of course, all of this is much better than Catherine's fortune, who will be married three times and have a stroke when she's 60.

Honorable mention to vic and company for another barbeque at his house. Props all around for getting the coals burning in only an hour (thanks to my un-disciplined use of lighter fluid), and to the deliciously cooked steak, corn, and peaches (surprisingly good) along with some vons soup. Good stuff.

Also saw Eight Below, which was pretty good although depressing at parts. But there's a cute female dog and a cute female human, added on to the fact that its a movie about dogs automatically makes it a winner.

CD everybody should listen to: The Wreckers - Stand Still-Look Pretty

2006-07-09T18:11:00.000-05:00

Went to see Pirates of the Caribbean on opening day!! Wooooo!! Good fun yo. The fish dudes were pretty cool looking, as was all of the giant tentacle fighting. Overall it was lots of fun, though it probably isnt quite as good as the original, which easily ranks amongst my top ten favorites of all history. This one is probably in the top twenty or so. The whole cliffhanger thing was slightly unsatisfying, although the end was pretty cheer worthy. Overall, the final summer movie gets about an A- on the Mike scale.

Summer Movies 2006 Final Standings (didnt see da vinci)
1. Pirates of the Caribbean: A-
2. X3: A-
3. Mission Impossible 3: B+
4. Superman Returns: B+
5. Cars: B+
6. Nacho Libre: B (jack black singing gets an A+)
Honorable Mention: Underworld Evolution which gets an A

Padres go into the All Star break in first place!!

Good fun: Dark Angel Season 1

2006-06-30T12:15:00.000-05:00

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.

2006-06-26T21:34:00.000-05:00

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!"

2006-06-19T12:52:00.000-05:00

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.

2006-06-17T20:02:00.000-05:00

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)

2006-06-13T15:56:00.001-05:00

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!!!

2006-06-10T14:22:00.000-05:00

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 ...

2006-06-05T00:00:00.000-05:00

"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.

2006-05-31T21:28:00.000-05:00

Petco Park for a Padre game with Mario!! Whooooo! Good fun with some pretty decent seats considering the fact that UCSD sold them to us. Haha. We had hot dogs and nachos, but apparently bought the dorky versions instead of the truly worthy ones, so we're definitely going to have to go back for the food. The game itself was great, with Chris Young pitching a no hitter into the 8th inning (interestingly, the last game I went to Adam Eaton had a no hitter into the 7th). And ... we got to see Trevor Hoffman!! It was all thanks to me wearing my Hoffman shirt, and of course we won the game. That's a 3 game winning streak for Padre games I've attended. Call me up anyone who wants to catch the next game!!

2006-05-29T15:05:00.000-05:00

Yay for 3 day weekends!!

The other day I saw none other than our old friends Tiffany and Jose. It's been quite awhile, and they are now happily married! Yaaay. Man, seeing them really takes me back to high school, and I remember Tiffany in Ms. Harkins class with all those historic moments; junior paper, dance across the decades, all those practice AP tests. Wow, those were the days. Seeing them again suggests something nostalgic and introspective, but instead I think I'll just say I'm glad we aren't singing songs to the tune of "Candle in the Wind" anymore.

Last weekend I went over to SDSU for my cousin's graduation. The ceremony was actually a lot quicker than last year's, which was good because it gave us more time to go to Barona for a buffet dinner. Good stuff.

On the suggestion of Thuy, my lab went down to the convoy area for some pho. It was pretty good, and cheap as well. Plus, lunch with laboratory scientists are always interesting, and we had such scholarly discussions as figuring out which lab member best matched which harry potter character, and whether the moving cat statue was waving or clawing at the air.

Also had dinner at this thai place down in rancho bernardo. It was also pretty good, except they mixed up the spicy requests, so my mom ended up getting the 7 and I had the 5.

On the note of random restaurants, had dinner at On the Border with Vic and Amy. Really good hot wings and even more spicy salsa, plus their all new watermelon margarita, which tasted like a jolly rancher. Then it was back to Vic's place for some good old fashioned gaming, including the new tomb raider (lara croft is hot).

X-Men 3!!! Whoooo, good stuff. Overall it was pretty good, but it didn't quite live up to X2, which easily ranks among my top 10 favorite movies of all history. No psylocke or gambit, but jean gray was pretty freaky and wolverine kicked some butt. Overall I think it gets a B+ on the Michael rater.

Cheaper By the Dozen 2 was pretty good also.

24, Lost, and American Idol finales were all great. 24 didn't answer who that one dude with the glasses was though, but the ending was pretty dramatic. Lost was intense, and they really did show what happens when the button isn't pressed. Taylor and Katherine singing "Time of My Life" was good.

2 more weeks ...

2006-05-20T13:55:00.000-05:00

Last weekend spent a day over at mission bay with a bunch of the folks. Lots of fun, and even the furry guy got to join us, although this time no hot girls came up to pet him. All in all good stuff, with lots of cheetoes, barbequed food, frisbees and footballs. Played a little softball too, which was fun until i broke the bat hitting a pitch. "Mike's on steroids!"

Metal Gear Solid 3 is one of the coolest games ever, and reminds me why the original was my favorite of all time when it came out. I like to pretend that the guards are that one mean lab tech in my microbio lab, and then i sneak up from behind, grab him, and cut his throat with a knife spewing blood all over the place. Then I drag the body over to the side of a cliff, and drop him off. Ahh feels good.

After 8+ weeks of working in the lab i FINALLY got my precious construct to be properly constructed. It all kinda happened on accident too, but thus is science. Now I can introduce myself as "Mr. Imus, creater of the GFP-ATG18 reporter protein that detects phosphotidylinositol-3,5-bisphosphate in fly cells".

MI3 was pretty cool with lots of action and things blowing up. It all kinda played like a couple of high budget Alias episodes, although maybe I'm biased knowing that JJ Abrams directed it. Still not sure if the getting blowin in the air by missile fired from jet is as cool as shooting gas tank of car while riding on motorcycle (thats MI2). Also gave me the best response when Calvin ignores my threats to give him a bath ...

"You don't think I'll do it!!!?"

2006-05-06T13:58:00.000-05:00

Yesterday the wonderful lab folk in and around my lab had a beach bbq down at la jolla shores. Lots of good korean food and delicious soda, and also a great game of football with some surprisingly athletic scientists. My final line was 2 catches, 2 dropped passes, 2 pass interferences, a couple tackles, and a pass deflection using my leg. All in all some good fun that beats waiting for electrophoresis gels to run, and made even better since I'm only slightly sore this morning.

Also went with Vic to a car show last weekend, which was pretty cool. Got lots of food and got to ride in the back of this spiffy new car that according to vic is really awesome, especially since the guy driving it was pretty crazy and fast.

2006-04-24T22:54:00.000-05:00

Aunt Mary: "Can Michael sing?"
Mom: *Shakes head emphatically no*

Another weekend up in the general area of san francisco to see family, this time for a 45th wedding anniversary of my uncle and aunt. It was great to see everyone again; it feels like a lifetime since last july. There are 3 families that all live in the same little neighborhood, all with awesome new houses that makes me wish i was done with college and settled in adulthood with a family of my own. It was lots a fun to see all the kids again too, and its scary to think that now I'm the one saying "You're so big now! The last time I saw you you were this tall!". Man I'm old. Anyway, the ceremony itself was fun, with lots of slow music, about 2 hip hops songs and even some dancing. I saw my parents dance. Whoa. But all in all, chalk up another great family experience.

(Me thinking that my transfections worked, and all of a sudden happy that I've actually done something right in the lab)
Mike: "Hey Amy! So I took a look at those cells I transfected, and ..."
Amy: "I know! And they were all messed up! I dont know what happened"

2006-04-09T12:32:00.000-05:00

Happy April.

So the Biochem GRE was good fun. I have no idea how well or not well I did, but I was able to do reasonably well relying on my guess / flip a coin technique that has served me through the years. Plus, after experieincing that whole Apocalypse That Ends the World of all Mortals (also known as the MCAT) any test less than 3 hours long doesnt seem so bad.

The Padres!! After a great start lasting one game, our team suddenly has nobody capable of throwing a baseball without getting hit more often than Britney Spears (that was the lamest thing I've ever said). At this rate, we'll win exactly 1/5 of all our games (the one's Jake Peavy starts). Jake Peavy is the Man.

24 just keeps blowing me away. This season is so filled with awesomeness, I'm already looking forward to the DVD set coming out!! -"The vice president has nothing to do with this"

16 Blocks: Bruce Willis is cool when shooting people, even while looking 60 years old with bad facial hair.
A History of Violence: Viggo Mortenson can kick butt even without the Sword of Narsil.
Walk the Line: Reese Witherspoon is hot. This movie makes me like country music.
King Kong: Naomi Watts is hot. Giant ape is relatively entertaining.
Chronicles of Narnia: Good stuff with great scenery and awesome music. But .... still gotta love Goblet of Fire better.

2006-03-26T23:59:00.000-06:00

Finals are done and no GFP tagged lipid binding proteins need my attention, which means a week of nothing but slacking off! (And studying for the GRE).

So I was walking the furry guy who sleeps on the couch and eats anything that falls on the floor (also known as calvin the dog), when we run into THREE freakin dogs on the street who for some reason arent attached to any leashes or contained behind fences like most dogs are. So I resorted to my usual response to such a threat ("walk faster calvin") which worked at first, until i realized one of the girl dogs was still following us. She kept running ahead of us, then letting us get ahead, and then running up to catch up again. This was slightly amusing and continued all the way home. I told my parents and they were all like "Calvin! You have a girlfriend!". I've been looking for a girl for the last 4 years, and all Calvin has to do is walk down the street and they're following him home. If only dogs could talk he could tell me his secret.

Also spent 5 HOURS at Fashion Valley with The Mom. I don't know why, but I still fall for the "I'll only be 30 minutes" line.

2006-03-16T21:14:00.001-06:00

Just the 2nd week working in NSB, and the fire alarm goes off. Luckily, our office is right next to the fire exit, which is actually kinda fun to walk down when you're starting from the 6th floor. It's like being on a roller coaster, except you're standing, and have to walk, and a bit slower. Nothing blew up as far as I could tell, and I was just glad to have gotten my PCR started 2 minutes before having to leave the lab. Bah hah hah.

24 is starting to make me sad. This season has already killed 5 main characters. 5!! And 3 of them were characters I really liked!!!

2006-03-09T00:55:00.000-06:00

So I'm standing outside my brand new lab getting ready to meet all new lab mates, when this one dude walks by with long brown hair and glasses, and I'm thinking to myself "Man, this guy looks like a crazy scientist type. Like one of those guys in a TV show who would accidentally mutate himself into an animal hybrid or something". As I'm thinking these wonderful ideas, the guy looks at me and says "Hey, Michael right. We used to work in the Hampton Lab". Then I realized, it was my old buddy Jarred! He was a rotation student for a few weeks with Hampton, but with much shorter hair to the point where he looked almost like a skater punk, or even Brian from the Backstreet Boys. Now he's got long hair and looks all mature and wise. Haha good stuff.

The lab itself is pretty cool so far, especially with the ocean view, automatic sliding doors, and being able to look down at the 2nd floor of Pac Hall and going "Haha fools!" (Jk, i actually miss those guys).

Man, this weeks 2 hours of 24 were some of the best ever. Near the end when we find out that guy snuck in the nerve gas into CTU was some of the most exciting stuff in awhile, and seeing Edgar die was surprisingly sad, even though I never liked him much. The best part was when Jack had his gun pointed at the terrorist, who tried to pull a "drop one gun while pulling another out of your belt", only to have Jack Bauer go Jack Bauer on him (aka getting blown away with a few dozen shots to the chest). Come on, nobodys fast enough to pull that on Jack.

2006-03-05T19:17:00.000-06:00

Hey, it was Marshall Semi Formal last night!! (Here's one pic, a few more are on facebook since about 10 million times more people view that than my blog)

Good fun yet again, and possibly the last dance of my long and confusing college career, which makes it kinda sad. But, all in all it was a great night with tons of people and unending hip hop. Dinner was at Chevy's, which had decently good make-it-yourself fajitas, even more enjoyable thanks to this thumb counting game we played. The dance itself was at a hotel downtown, which we amazingly found despite mario driving (jk haha). The danceroom wasnt quite as nice as some of the other dances, considering the chocolate fountain, carriage, and airplanes and helicopters we've seen in dance rooms past. Plus, the DJ only played 2 slow slongs! It was basically all the same hip hop, with only a few others to mix it up, notably YMCA (that was pretty fun). But I cant complain too much, because I got to see lots of my good friends dressed up and dancing for the first time ever, plus make a few new ones.

Also had dinner with Vic at the oh so expensive CPK on thursday, all in support of Camp Kesem. Pizza was decent, plus got to see our old friend Courtney.