Corporate Conundrums

Minitab, Matlab or Excel?

2010-12-21T20:44:00.000-08:00

After discovering the beauties of MATLAB during sophomore year of college, I never once looked back at Excel. Managing data was so much simpler, graphing was effortless, I simply couldn't see a reason to use Excel again (with the exception of one sad night involving three engineers and several forlorn attempts to graph a flat line in Matlab). The ability to write scripts allowed you to get exactly the information you needed saved you time by only calculating the values needed (whereas Excel recalculates the entire sheet every time you update a value). During grad school, a friend described Matlab as "Excel for people who know how to do math" and I scoffingly agreed and from then on described it as "Excel for Engineers".

My feelings toward Excel began to change after taking a statistics class, during which the lack of Statistica or Matlab on my new computer made me resort to Excel for data crunching. During that semester, I discovered that Excel had countless built-in functions and shortcuts I never knew of, thus making it a very capable data analysis software as well. A roommate told me that Microsoft engineers are constantly hounded by requests for features that have been in Excel for years, so I guess Excel's main shortcoming is that none of those features are intuitive or easy to access. My respect for Excel further increased after starting work in July, when I discovered the beauty and power of Excel Macros (and their tie-in with Visual Basic, the first "programming" language I learned in middle school), which allow the automation of repetitive tasks similar to Matlab's scripts. Alright, I thought, I misjudged you Excel, clearly you have power. But the amount of CPU and processing time it took to get through large amounts of data still peeved me.

And then I met Minitab. If Matlab was Excel for Engineers, then Minitab is Excel for Statisticians. True to its tagline of "Software for Six Sigma and Quality Improvement", the program is a lean, mean graphing machine. With hardly a blimp on your CPU, Minitab can spit out multiple, detailed and informative graphs in a matter of seconds, ranging from simple time-series plotting to two-sample t-tests, control charts, box-whisker plots to at least 50 other chart types I have yet to discover how to use. Graphs are easy to modify/label without the endless clicking and adjusting of Excel, entire projects can be saved together, and again, the software somehow manages all this without eating up your RAM. To be fair, I will admit that while it is a graphing beast, Minitab falls leagues behind Excel in sorting data (Excel's "Auto Filter" feature is by far the most useful, time-saving feature I have discovered).

So, while I used to say Minitab > Matlab > Excel, I now think each has its niche. If you're looking to graph simple one-line charts, I'd use Excel. If you plan on creating data with complex equations (i.e. third or fourth degree polynomials or solving differential equations), or vice versa, I suggest Matlab. Finally, if you plan on getting any statistical data aside from the mean and standard deviation, I think it is well worth your while to spend an hour learning Minitab.

:-)

My Biking Brethren

2010-10-04T18:58:00.000-07:00

A friend whom I recently inducted into biking said "bikers are very unfriendly, they always look so angry", and I couldn't believe that perception existed. From my experience, and this has kept up richly while biking on the trails around Philly, bikers are incredibly friendly!

On almost every ride that I have been on by myself, I have had a positive encounter with a fellow biker. From my first ride to Manayunk, a not-so-amateur biker volunteered to lead me to the trail despite his having to slow down for me for a good 20 minutes. On my first solo bike ride to Valley Forge National Park, when I got to the park and rested, I ended up chatting with another biker, the silver fox Phil, for a good 15 minutes, and leaving with great tips on avoiding gnats in your eyes with safety glasses from work. Thank you Phil, I think of you every time I'm on that gnatty trail!

And most recently, I was riding up the Schuylkill River Trail (my lifeblood for outdoor exercise, be it running or riding) when I saw a stalled biker on the side of the trail. As is my routine, I slowed down to ask him if he was okay or needed help, and upon hearing that he was resting, I continued. He later caught up with me, thanked me for spreading the good will, and he accompanied me on my ride for a good 30 minutes until I met up with my friend. Finally, on that same day, when I was waiting for my friend on the side of the trail, a fellow biker also asked me if I was okay before proceeding.

After all these positive experiences, I can't help but think what my friend considered "anger" from these bikers must simply be intense focus and pain from pushing yourself to the limits. I really do love the biking community, and after reading this article, Heels on Wheels, I have a feeling the community is recruiting.

Peace, love and cycling!

:-)

Philly Living: One Year in Retrospect

2010-09-02T17:32:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was my one-year anniversary with Philadelphia. Mind-fucking-boggling.

September 1st, 2009, I flew into PHL with two stuffed suitcases, a box holding TDH (my bike), and the shiny new face of a soon-to-be graduate student. I came in with the mindset that I'd be "out in 10 months," and used that as fuel to get me over the hurdles of my new life. Even though I eventually began enjoying the vivacity of the city, I still had a light at the end of the tunnel, and constantly imagined myself moving back home. I made friends, we had epic (yes, I mean carving in concrete sidewalks with our keys epic) nights, I felt at ease, but even so there was a temporary quality to it all. My entire life at Penn felt like an extended summer fling or honeymoon. I was enamored by my first east coast fall, awestruck by my first (and second and third) Nor'easter, and my jaw dropped and spirits soared at the first cherry blossoms of spring. I had made it, I'd gotten through. Through all this, all the fun I was having, the novelty of my situation was what really made it exciting. I loved telling people "this is my first time ____" and "I've never heard of ___", it made me feel naive and innocent in the most positive way. I learned so much about Philadelphia's rich history, about the Amish and Pennsylvania Dutch of Lancaster Country, UPenn and it's place in the Ivy League and the city. Really, such an enriching experience.

All this being said, if someone had told me a year ago that I would soon be settling into Philly indefinitely, I would have laughed in their faces. Further, if they had told me that I would LOVE living here, I would have assumed they were doing hardcore drugs. But here I am, one year later, and I couldn't love my life more. I'm not much for anniversaries, but I honestly woke up with a huge smile on my face when I realized the date. I do love Philly, and I can feel it loving me back.

Peace, Love and Philly!

:-)

Welcome to the Working World

2010-07-18T17:34:00.000-07:00

After two months of blissful free time on the east and west coasts, I have finally shed my responsibility-free college student skin and emerged with a fresh, clean corporate casing. I've been getting many questions about how work is, so I figured this means was best to avoid repeating myself. Also, I'm curious to see how my opinion changes as time progresses, so here it is, my digest after one week of work:

The Good:
1. The people! So far, I've really liked most of the people I'm working with, and my floor, along with the whole campus (of ~10,000 employees) is incredibly social. The amazing tradition that made my day: On my second day, my "buddy" or trainer brings in a box of donuts, leaves them on my desk, and sends out an email to my entire floor telling them to come meet me and grab a donut. It was great, I had people stopping by all day to introduce themselves and I got a great sense of who does what and where I fall in the big picture. Also, while walking around campus, people greet complete strangers all the time with simple "hellos" and "good mornings". This is a stark contrast from most research facilities. This lack of social barriers environment is my kind of place, where you can (and I did) meet new people simply walking back from lunch.

2. The work! The reason I was most excited about this position, and still am, is that it's real engineering. On my first day I sat in on a meeting with my team, and it was four people with laptops, sitting around a table and problem-solving. This casual brain-trust method of trouble-shooting is all too familiar from countless group projects in school, and it is my favorite aspect of engineering. Also, it seems like my position has a good balance of time spent on the computer, on the floor, and in the lab, which is perfect.

3. The routine! I'm a person who loves routine, and although I'm guaranteed to get tired of it, for now I like having a regular pattern to my life. It's especially nice after 8 weeks of sleeping in and not using my brain at all.

4. The clothes! After years of seeing awesome dress clothes in shops, I finally have a reason to wear them, and I couldn't be more excited. I've always hated how restricting and hot jeans are, and finally I don't need to wear them anymore, dress pants kick ass. And as superficial as it is, I feel powerful wearing them. Except the shoes, I've yet to find a comfortable pair of clack-clack-free heels, but I'm working on it.

5. Being one of the biggest Merck sites, we have lots of awesome club activities...a team for basically any sport you could want to play (including softball, which I'm getting back into!), and a great way to meet your coworkers.

6. Summer hours! I almost forgot...we have this amazing schedule where you put in an extra hour each day from M-Th, and go home at lunch on Friday! Its great because it gives me time to come home, gym, nap and then go out like college days.

The Bad:
1. The biggest, and only con so far, is the commute. I love my new place and wouldn't even consider living outside of the city, but that means I pay the price with a 1-hour train ride every morning. However, I am making the most of it- I've subscribed to the NY Times (yes, the hard copy, I'm old fashioned), and read that every morning, and do the crosswords on the ride home!

The Interesting:
1. While this isn't good or bad, it's definitely worth mentioning: there are lots of young, married people. Either I'm really bad at judging age, but for the most part people my age or a couple of years older were all married, something that struck me as odd. For all you working kids, is this trend specific to industry or company, or is it some general corporate feature?

Anywho, that's my work, one week in. I really hope the excitement keeps up and the 6 am wake ups don't ebb away at my vivactiy. Also, this website is due for yet another name change. Suggestions?

Peace, love and the working world!

Kiran

Berkeley, Revisited.

2010-06-22T13:56:00.000-07:00

When anyone asks what the best aspect of my Berkeley experience was, I always say the people. Previously, this always meant my friends, those who I shared countless exhilarating and exhausting experiences with over the four years, and those who are like family today. Recently, however, my answer has changed. The people I met at Cal are still the most amazing part of my time there, but not just my best friends, and not just for the experiences we shared together.

Only a year after graduation, I look back at our class, and I am amazed at what people have gone on to do with their lives. It seems like every Bear I know can be deemed “an expert in their field” either now or in the near future. I feel like no matter what I may have a question about, I would have an expert to answer me within arms reach. From the innovative engineers toiling away at companies they founded, to the financiers who can tell you which start-ups are worth investing in. From those doing cutting-edge research (be it in cancer or energy efficiency), to those attending the top medical schools in the country. From those breaching cultural barriers by pursuing graduate school abroad, to those bringing basic health education to Indian villages. From those putting their own lives on hold to teach inner city children (Teach for America), to those who flew out to help victims in Haiti. Sure, the sixties made Berkeley famous for its proactive students, but if these handful (of many) examples are any proof, today’s students are making just as many differences in the world as they were half a decade ago. To you guys, thanks for proving that excellence can be self-perpetuating, and thanks for this feeling of inadequacy that makes me want to do more with my life.

Peace, love and making a difference!

Kiran

Men of Merck, Make Room for a Lady

2010-03-08T20:27:00.000-08:00

As many of you have already heard, I recently accepted an offer as Staff Engineer with Merck & Co.'s Manufacturing Division in West Point, PA. Because bioengineering is the only engineering major with more women than men, I tend to forget what a male-dominated field engineering is. That veil was abruptly lifted during my visit to Merck. In the course of my six-hour interview, the only women I met were the secretary and the HR representative. Even during lunch, I saw a rare female face speckled in the crowd of men. I remember leaving the site thinking "this team really needs a woman"... lo and behold, three weeks later, I'm proud to say that it looks like that woman will be me. As the majority of my friends are males and engineers, it is needless to say that I am excited about my future working environment. Me strutting around in heels as the rare female on a floor of 80 engineers? And all of this happening at one of the top-ten pharmaceutical companies in the world? Let the good times begin. :-)

Pompous joking aside, I am actually very nervous about this position. Not only is this my first time working in industry, I am leaving behind my five years of training in bioengineering and trekking out into a completely different route: operations. Although it's a biotech company, the position I'm taking on has nothing to do with bioengineering. In short, I will be joining a team of internal consultants who optimize the vaccine sterilization process and fix it when something goes wrong. I'm a strong believer (and hopefully, practicer) of life-long learning, and I am sure my bioengineering education will always be there if I choose to call on it, otherwise I would never have accepted a position that is basically the ideal job for an IEOR graduate.

And finally, not to ignore the obvious, but my acceptance of this position does make me a not-so-temporary resident of Philadelphia. In January, I vowed to love Philly, and Philly has been loving me back. I finally feel at home, and Philly's food obsession has started to suck me in as well. For the first time, I will acknowledge, that there is the slightest possibility that I may never call California home again, but that chance is very small. And considering how wonderful winter and spring breaks have been, I must say I'm enjoying coming home and treating California like a tourist. Obviously not as great as seeing my loved ones on a regular basis, but great nevertheless. And the best part about having awesome friends in multiple places is that when something great like this happens, you get to celebrate many times over.

Peace, Love, and Biotech,

:-)

Slippery Slope to Socialism

2010-02-08T16:27:00.000-08:00

My thoughts on President Obama's proposed healthcare reform are ambivalent. For all practical matters- having everyone insured, and preventing the rise of insurance premiums- I believe it is great. However, I simultaneously feel that government takeover of healthcare comes from a very relaxed reading of the powers granted in the Constitution.

Because the President's bold moves in healthcare and economic reform have philanthropic intentions, I have ignored the accusations of socialism he has been barraged with. However, an article I read in the New York Times today made me reconsider what (I realize I may lose many friends over this next statement) Glenn Beck, amongst others, have said about him.

The article, found here, was talking about the Obama administration's plan to reduce childhood obesity. What gave me trouble was this: "In legislation, soon to be introduced, candy and sugary beverages would be banned and many schools would be required to offer more nutritious fare." The strong language (banned, required) seems unnecessarily dictatorial. Again, like healthcare reform, this plan has a great purpose, but its implementation involves a restriction of freedom.

Don't get me wrong, I know obesity is a big problem in this country, and I applaud Michelle Obama for taking on this effort. But I believe education is the way to go, not legislation. Inform the public, inform the children, inform their parents. Countless times on subways I have seen teenage parents giving their children soda and fries, and it's all I can do not to bust out diagrams showing the progression of atherosclerosis and diabetes. Once the public has been informed, it is their decision to eat healthier or continue with junk food- it is their right. No matter how loosely you interpret the Constitution, nowhere does it grant the federal government the right to restrict our diets.

Normally I could care less about what the average American eats, as long as I eat healthy, and teach my friends and family to do the same. If someone wants to eat McDonald's to their fast-approaching grave, they can knock themselves out, it's just natural selection at play. Now here's the catch: if healthcare is government-funded, and my tax dollars are paying to give Joe Krispy Kreme multiple balloon angioplasties, suddenly the diet of 304 million people becomes my problem. Socialism is self-perpetuating.

So, it makes me rather unhappy to say, that I do believe the Obama administration is heading down the slippery slope to socialism. I don't believe it is intentional or ill-minded, but I acknowledge it is happening. If a few administrations of strict governmental regulation are what we need to get the economy back to Clinton years, then it might be a welcome change.

Politics and the Destructive Power of the Internet

2010-01-27T17:43:00.000-08:00

As scandalous story after scandalous story unfolds about politicians caught on camera in compromising situations, all I can think is how lucky the current thought leaders of our nation are. Most of their young adulthood, i.e. the time in life they were likely the wildest, was pre-internet, pre-commercialization of digital cameras, and pre-Facebook. The only way they would get pictures in digital format, and thus susceptible to the viral spread of Youtube videos, was if someone cared enough to scan and send them.

Our generation, on the other hand, was raised with .jpgs, not negatives, and emails, not letters. With the ease of sharing information, be it forwarding an email or clicking the "Upload to Facebook" button now ubiquitous on smartphones, who really knows how far their personal information has spread? A young parent uploads a picture of their newborn minutes after the birth, and thus begins the digital documentation of that child's life.

But think about how screwed we are. Media will do anything for a juicy story, and opponents will do anything to debunk you. But how vigilant can we be about the whereabouts of our information? Sure, you can block people from seeing your pictures on Facebook, and you can change your email password on a weekly basis if you want. But what about the other end? Who's to stop that vengeful ex-lover from spreading compromising pictures? Or that bitter colleague who you got promoted over from sharing out-of-context bits of conversation?

It doesn't even have to be that drastic, the simplest things can bring you down years later. Imagine you're in college, meet a friend of a friend in a bar, you each knock back a couple of drinks, and by the end of the night you're best friends and posing for pictures together. You go home and forget about this person. But 20 years later, when you're a successful lawyer and running for a state congressional seat, your opponent finds this old picture, and points out to the world that your "best friend" from college is now an active member of the US Communist Party, and there go your ratings. The most inconsequential acts can have catastrophic repercussions. It's a frightening thought, isn't it?

While Massachusetts voters have shown that posing nude for a Cosmo center-fold doesn't exclude you from senatorship, this is definitely an exception- nude photos and politicians generally don't go over well. My advice for all you aspiring politicians and world leaders: run the other way every time you see a camera.

Full-Fledged Philadelphian

2010-01-11T16:36:00.000-08:00

Four months I’ve lived in Philadelphia. I’ve biked miles around, bar-hopped night after night, eaten at the finest and crappiest local diners, yet still I feel no connection to the city. The streets of Philly are devoid of sentiment, and the relationships formed there, though valuable, are ephemeral. This is partly due to the nature of my stay. I’m only here for nine months, why bother getting attached? However, I know I will regret it if I leave this city without ever having lived in it, so I’m making changes. No more looking back, no more yearning for home, no more dreaming of beaches.

After a soul-soothing month at home, I’m en route to Philly again, and the minute I land, I am a full-fledged Philadelphian. I will eat hoagies, hate the Yankees, put Cheez Whiz on everything, and ride my bike on the sidewalk. That is, if Penn leaves me with time to spare.

The Frat Boy, Dissected

2010-01-03T23:40:00.000-08:00

Despite four years of partying alongside them, it is now, six months post-graduation, that I finally understand what defines a fraternity brother. Throughout college I threw around generalizations about "frat boys", most of them negative, without really understanding why this was the case. Only to add to my confusion, many of my best friends were in fraternities, yet displayed none of the characteristics assigned to their collective group. How could I love these guys so much individually, yet despise everything they stand for as a group?

Turns out the individual-to-group transition was the answer. Alone, a frat boy is merely a boy. Your lovable male friend. Put two together, and a sense of competition (be it in drinking, sports, sex, etc.) begins to creep in, creating a slow escalation of unhealthy and/or immoral habits, but they retain most of their individuality. At three, they egg each other on, and the competitive streak spikes as three individuals slowly blend into one entity. At four, critical mass is reached, and the group morphs into an unstoppable, self-destructive machine. Testosterone is raging, everything is a competition, and once a suggestion is made ("lets take 3 shots each!"), it will never be turned down for fear of looking weak. This pattern of behavioral change is most commonly seen in riots, and we call it mob mentality.

There we go, stereotypical "frat boys" are nothing more than normally civil, moral people subjected to mob mentality. And I can't blame them. I am no less susceptible to this behavioral change than any one of them. After only a week of cohabitation with fraternity brothers, I noticed obscenities creeping into my language, and felt myself reaching for beers at 2 pm, and that's without ever experiencing hazing. While I can't promise not to use the term "frat boy" disparagingly ever again, I will at least acknowledge that individually, most of them are fun, decent people.

The Importance of Stupidity and Sunshine

2009-12-05T20:49:00.000-08:00

Not necessarily simultaneously.

I read two completely unrelated but very interesting articles this week, both of are which I thought are worth passing on.

The first, I would suggest every scientist read, is "The Importance of Stupidity in Scientific Research" by Dr. Schwartz. It was published in the Journal of Cell Science in 2006, and the article talks about this constant feeling of "stupidity" when doing research, and how this feeling is necessary for good science. When you're in lab, completely stumped, and you have no higher knowledge to refer to, it is then that you know you're doing good research. If you're asking the questions no one has answers to, you are by definition the cutting edge. That feeling of frustration has been felt by everyone who has worked in a lab, and this short article lets you rest assured that you are not alone, and that feeling is not in vain.

Having spent more than half of my semester reading Science, Nature and Cell papers, I understand what feeling Dr. Schwartz is referring to. The older papers read like a good detective novel: there was a question about basic science, the authors conducted a series of experiments to answer them, and in the end they had a definitive, conclusive mechanism or result to show for it. You left the paper with a satisfied feeling. However, as we began reading the more recent papers, published in 2008 and later, the conclusive detective novel transformed into a Goosebumps "choose your ending" storyline. The authors had a question, they conducted experiments to attempt to answer them, but the final meaning was open to interpretation. That satisfactory feeling was gone, as the papers raised more questions than they answered, and often left me wondering "so what?" and "how did this paper get published in Science?". That's when it hit me, these papers aren't conclusive because we are now at that cutting edge. This feeling of unsureness is a result of that same stupidity Dr. Schwartz is referring to. We are doing good science.

The second article, "Bright Ideas for Treating the Winter Blues" was something I came across in the Wall Street Journal this week that simply answered questions I've had for years. I've always joked that I must be a rare, photosynthesizing human because I found myself so much happier and more energetic in the sunshine. The article goes over the link between depression and the seasons, and ways to treat Seasonal Affective Disorder, which they suggest results from lack of sunshine throwing off your circadian rhythms, which in turn affects your mood. As I'm diving into my first winter on the east coast, I'm glad to know this information beforehand, and if things get too dark and depressing, I can always try some light therapy. Ahh, as if there weren't already enough reasons to live in California. :-)

Fall Colors

2009-11-01T13:53:00.000-08:00

If there's one thing California is missing, it is a real fall. This is my first time living (year-round) in a region with real seasons, and even though I prefer milder temperatures, the past few weeks in Philadelphia have been absolutely gorgeous. The weather has been fluctuating between warm and refreshingly brisk, and even though sun has been scarce, the gray weather only adds to the vibrancy of fall. I really wish I had a camera to capture this, sadly I haven't bought one yet, but I will share my friend Heather's pictures of fall in Fairmount Park to give you an idea.

One memory I will always cherish is ambling through Penn's Locust Walk (lined with trees and gothic brick buildings), wrapped in a scarf, kicking up piles of orange-red leaves and laughing at Landscaping Services' futile attempt to clear all the leaves as hundreds more fall.

:-)

Religious Promiscuity

2009-10-25T21:02:00.000-07:00

After what has been a physically, mentally and emotionally trying three weeks, today I inadvertently found solace in a house of worship. Well not just a place of worship, but three distinct places.

The first was completely spontaneous. While at Biketoberfest (an outdoor celebration of bikes, beer, brats, and bands), we spotted a beautiful church behind the stage and decided to amble through between bands. They happened to be having a service, so we sat in for a bit.

After Biketoberfest, I went to a Diwali celebration by Penn's Hindu Student Council. Here I witnessed and participated in my first puja and arti, very exciting!

Finally, since Diwali is a festival celebrated by three different religions (Hindus, Sikhs and Jains) in India, they proceeded to the Sikh celebration as well (singing hymns, or kirtan).

At each and every event today, I felt this amazing calm fall over me, especially while listening to the choir or singing hymns with everyone. While I had no particular affinity to the content of any of the prayers, the soft singing and sense of a community bound without ulterior motives was very soothing. I don't know if this makes me more or less atheist, or more or less Sikh, but it was a good day.

:-)

Our Rockstars Aren't Like Your Rockstars*

2009-09-22T07:45:00.000-07:00

I love engineers, this is no news, but here is a story that made my night:

I went downstairs to the TV lounge to watch the season premier of Big Bang Theory last night. There were five of us there, we laughed, enjoyed the show, and at the end we all got into the elevator to head to our respective rooms. As we get in, I noticed only "10" was pushed on the elevator. Odd, I thought, 5 strangers watching a TV show out of a 22-story building, funny that we're all from the same floor.

Oh wait, 10th floor is the science and engineering floor, that explains it.

:-)

*If you don't get the title, here's a must-see ad by Intel. If you don't like it, please let me know so I can immediately remove you from contact.

Things to Note

2009-09-19T16:18:00.000-07:00

People here smoke a lot.

Drivers here honk a lot.

Too many people wear too much perfume/cologne (they're probably the smokers).

Learning How to Fish

2009-09-10T10:48:00.000-07:00

I had heard that classes in graduate school had a different dynamic than undergrad, but I wasn't aware how contrasting they would be. The most noticeable (and welcome) change is that classes aren't textbook-centric anymore, but are literature-centric. Two of the three classes I've attended so far (because we started on a Wednesday, haven't had Monday or Tuesday classes yet) have over 30% of the class grade based on in-class discussion and presentation of research articles. Also, by allowing us to bring in papers we find interesting, we can gear the curriculum towards our personal interests. The goal of classes isn't to lecture at you, but to teach you how to find and critique the most relevant, up-to-date literature so you can teach yourself. My professor this morning described it in the best way "we're not going to give you the fish, we're going to teach you how to fish."

Being treated like an adult at school makes me feel more like an adult. Having swapped out my jeans for khakis and my backpack for a Penn tote bag, I really feel like a graduate student. And I must say, it feels great.

:-)

Philly, to the power 24

2009-09-07T07:48:00.001-07:00

In my last post, my sentiments about this city were lukewarm. There was culture, but no crazy. There was personality, but no pizzazz. Turns out we were just looking in the wrong places. After the busiest and most fun 24 hours in the city of brotherly love, all of my reservations about this move have been eliminated (well, except for the winter, we'll see about that in a few months). Let me take you through my day.

Saturday night, the ladies and I Yelped "Philadelphia nightlife," threw on our dancing shoes, and headed out on the town. First stop was this new place by campus, The Blockley Pourhouse. Opened recently, this place is shiny and spacious, and although the crowds are missing, it has great potential. Because it's new, the bartenders are all trying to buy loyalty and a crowd of "regulars" with free drinks galore. Needless to say, we liked. Buzzin' off of free booze, we hopped into a cab and told the cabbie to take us to the party. He did just as asked, and took us to THE place to be on a Friday or Saturday night, meaning 2nd @ Market. This two block strip was spilling with people coming in and out of the 10-15 bars, clubs and restaurants to fit every need. There were the grungy Irish pubs, the swanky clubs and upscale cocktail lounges. We found our place at the perfect combination of these 3, called Plough & The Stars. It was casual bar meets club, with two levels of dancing, and packed to the brim. Hours of dancing and meeting the locals = night of success.

Sunday morning, with a few survivors from the night before, we headed over to the Philadelphia Museum of Art, which is free on the 1st Sunday of every month. Getting to the museum involved walking along the beautiful bike/run trail along the Schuylkill River. The museum itself was nothing short of grandiose (and actually more impressive than The Met), and located in the lush green Fairmount Park, it was the wow factor I had been missing.

After the art museum, we found ourselves on a spontaneous, self-guided tour of the Parkway, i.e. the Museums District of Philly. This is essentially the culture center of the city, housing several museums and libraries, city hall, and the stately Cathedral Basilica of Saints Paul and Peter. Even walking around, this is the most safest, most beautiful, spacious part of the city, with historical buildings, water fountains in every direction, and the flags of the world lining Ben Franklin Parkway. I can see that I will be spending many weekend afternoons exploring this district.

We got back to campus just in time for the Graduate Student Center's "Gnome Hunt/Happy Hour". I can't say enough how much I'm love the GSC. They have this ridiculous obsession with gnomes, which seemed absurd at first, but after this event, is very impressive. The entire GSC building is sprinkled with gnomes in the most random places, and they have pictures on the wall of the gnomes all around the world with them (Rome, Paris, California!). Our goal was to run around campus finding all the hidden gnomes, in the mean time, forcing me to go to many important places on campus I would have never known about otherwise: Fine Arts Library, Botanical Gardens, Penn Museum (which houses the 2nd largest collection of Egyptian artifacts after Cairo), Penn Bookstore, etc. Running around campus sweating profusely for an hour, and ending with an exquisite banquet and happy hour! :-D

Banquet ended just in time for Brittany and I to scuttle over to the first ever Philly Naked Bike Ride! I am officially a part of this city's history. I thought I'd done my fair share of crazy things, but this surpassed anything I'd done before. We collected at the Schuylkill River trail again, only to see hundreds of bikers and LOTS of flesh!

Entered the body-painting tent, stripped down and started painting! Once we were all decorated, it was 90 minutes of riding through every neighborhood of the city, yelling and screaming whilst being naked. The best way to describe it is a Critical Mass where everyone's naked. The reactions of unaware people on the streets were to die for, some of my favorites being the wedding happening along the Schuylkill, the hundreds of people having outdoor dinners at the upscale Rittenhouse Square restaurants, and a random guy on the street "this is the best f*****g day of my life!" Finally, the city has personality! I rocked a map of Cali on my back, and thus met many people from California, which is always great!

Finally, I got home, finished off the night with painful yet hilarious karaoke and salsa lessons with the building, washed off the paint, and passed out.

:-D

A Moment to be Pennsive

2009-09-05T15:22:00.000-07:00

Although not quite done with my first week in Philadelphia, I have done enough exploring in the past few days to give me a sense of what I've gotten myself into. I now feel I can give a rudimentary judgment of several aspects of my new life.

The School:

Classes haven't started yet, so I can't say anything about the academics, but the campus itself is gorgeous. Taking my afternoon strolls to and from orientations have always left a big smile on my face. With the tree-lined cobblestone paths and the rustic red and gray brick buildings, I found myself thinking several times "ahh, its good to be back on the east coast." With art displays all over campus (notably the Peace, Love and Broken Button), and well-maintained landscape, you can tell it is an Ivy League.

I got my first exposure to Ivy League brats when my professor warned us, as TAs, to "watch out for the donor kids." Yowza, if children of donors are significant enough to mention during a TA meeting, this must happen often. On that same note, EVERYTHING at Penn is sponsored or donated, from entire buildings down to a stairwell in the BioE (here called BE) building.

My favorite part about the school so far is the Graduate Student Center. It is an embarrassingly well-funded organization that puts together very fitting events for graduate students (happy hours, city tours leaving you to do your thing downtown, "gnome hunts", salsa nights). With so many Master's students, it makes it a blast!

The City:

I was warned about Philadelphia's safety before coming here, but I brushed those warnings off thinking "meh, I lived in Harlem, how much worse could it be?" Turns out, a lot. UPenn, like several other schools located in crappy cities, has its own bubble in the middle of West Philly, which is the second worst part of town (coming in after South Philly). Inside the Penn Bubble, life is great. Students and upscale shops all around. Ten blocks east and west of where I live, you don't want to be caught alone. While every school warns you "never to walk alone at night," here doing so would mean risking your life. Luckily, we have been doing group tours and exploring the sketchier neighborhoods of town in safe numbers. Just two days ago, two women were raped (by the same man) two hours apart in Fairmount Park, which is immediately east of us. Today, two of my friends were followed around a Kmart by a sketchy man who purchased nothing and was just browsing for girls out alone to attack. Needless to say, I am on my guard, and very happy staying inside my Penn Bubble.

Safety issues aside, during the day and in groups, Philadelphia is a pretty cool city. It's no New York in culture, but there are several cool districts with lively restaurants and bars. And of course, the history isn't lost of me, although I was more impressed with Boston in that aspect. But everytime I pass by a food cart or walk into a subway station, I am happy to be living in a city again.

The Liquor Laws

Not that this defines my lifestyle or anything, but the peculiar liquor laws of Pennsylvania are worth mentioning. For starters, grocery stores don't carry alcohol at all. Beer must be purchased from special "Beer Distributors" where it's only sold by the case, and wine/hard alcohol from "Wine & Spirit Distributors." However, one AWESOME side effect of these prude laws is that, because liquor licenses are so difficult to obtain, many upscale restaurants are Bring Your Own Bottle (BYOB)! I haven't tried one yet, but I am excited to.

My Housing

Ahh, my biggest disappointment so far, and the reason I broke down into tears on my first night...my housing. I signed up for university housing because I figured it would be the safest, cleanest deal, based of course on Cal's on-campus housing. I am living in Sansom Place East, the graduate high-rise apartments, or as we like to call them, the Graduate Student Projects. The apartments are tiny, the building is grungy overall, and I think I was just cursed with the worst apartment. My walls are dirty, my kitchen has obvious marks of a huge fire, the previous resident was a smoker, and worst of all COCKROACHES come creeping out at night! Ugh. After 4 days of serious cleaning, and asking the facilities repair for an exterminator, I am finally getting comfortable in this shit-hole. Never again will I take on University housing blindly. My quality of life has definitely dropped, from my awesome, well-stocked apartment this summer to eating soup and most-likely a dining plan at Penn.

However, aside from the actual apartment, the building has great amenities. There are group activities regularly, where I have met most of the people I now hang out with. There is a computer facility, free laundry, and this amaaazing view of downtown Philly on one side (I am the 10th floor), and phenomenal sunsets on the other.

The advantage of shitty housing is that it encourages you to stay out, which is pretty much what I've done all week. The weather has been beautiful, the people and events great, it's pretty much been a mini-vacation. I'm sure this euphoria will die quickly once school starts and the weather heads toward winter, but I am enjoying it now!

Peace, Love and a Broken Button,

Kiran

At the Intersection of Birth, Residence, and Religion

2009-08-10T14:32:00.000-07:00

As a child, I read a fair share of books about second generation immigrants facing culture clashes and identity crises (the prototypical example being The Joy Luck Club). Even though I am a second-generation immigrant myself, I never faced any angst about my identity, and hence couldn’t understand what these books were aiming at. Even throughout high school, as I fought my parents for freedom and independence, I never really felt like that reflected on my identity, it was just my parents’ way of raising children.

Self-awareness slowly began to rise in college, as I realized how much American pop culture I was clueless about, and when I was first asked if I was American. In answer to the latter, I said ‘no’, mostly because I have always thought of myself as Indian, and I don’t identify with many inherently American traits (I read somewhere that the average American is obese, monolingual, and doesn’t hold a passport). However, upon hearing my reasoning, one friend challenged me with “well would you identify more with an Indian girl your age or an American one?” A great question, and obviously I would identify more with an American, which finally made me concede that I must be American after all.

The third prong of my identity comes from being born in a Sikh family. I was raised as a devout Sikh for more than half my life, until I realized I believe in science more than supreme powers, and declared myself an atheist. At this point, in my mind, I completely shed my Sikh identity. This is all old news, however, so why bring this up now? Last month, my parents held a Sikh prayer recital, called an Akhand Paat, in honor of my graduation. After spending two entire days with my extended family volunteering and listening to prayers at our local church, I realized that I will always be a Sikh, whether or not I believe. I found my lips automatically moving to the hymns that defined my childhood Sundays, and despite being Atheist, I got a great sense of peace, community and family bonding by being there.

So finally, at age 22, I can understand what an identity crisis is, and say happily, that I have solved mine with the below pie chart.

Yes, I am that bored at work.

:-)

My tête-à-tête with Miss Austen*

2009-08-06T10:49:00.000-07:00

Of the three books I picked up with my “no internet after 9pm” rule, my instincts drew me to Pride and Prejudice first. I could sense the drama and taboo locked between those covers, and I was sure I would appreciate it. With my limited knowledge of the book beforehand, I expected the entangled “love”** stories to appeal to the romantic in me, however the book surprised me when I found myself engaged on several other levels.

The first and foremost was the intense pride and feminism evoked by every one of Elizabeth’s unorthodox actions. Admittedly, the desire to prove female independence and equality were a factor in my decision to become an engineer, but aside from that, I don’t feel any strongly feminist emotions on a daily basis. As a matter of fact, I often find feminists rather irritating, mostly because I believe a proactive, doing mentality goes leagues farther than the passive, complaining route in promoting equality. However, this was all thrown aside as Elizabeth, with a strong will and love for her sickly sister, ran the five miles to Netherfield in the storm, despite the impropriety of a young woman doing such a thing. One of my favorite lines from the book is when she arrives at Netherfield, with the bottom of her dress covered in mud, and Mr. Darcy notes that she looked beautiful, despite her face being “flushed with glow of exercise,” where a footnote then explained that exercise was considered improper for upper class women, as it indicated working in the field. I felt this great surge of pride in Elizabeth, and Mr. Darcy himself gained brownie points for shunning society’s expectations and admitting (if only to himself) his attraction to such a rebel.

This leads me to my other point of surprise. There was something incredibly attractive in the defiance of taboo in such a repressive culture, where simple gestures, such as Mr. Darcy’s uninvited visits to Mr. Collins’ parish, raised eyebrows. As Mr. Darcy’s and Elizabeth’s relationship progressed, I found the conversation during their racy rendezvous as exciting as a sexual encounter, and was often nothing short of turned on. Besides a very enlightening look into my own sexual psyche, this book let me rest assured that even in the most repressed of times, people had no trouble getting their yayas.

Needless to say, I thoroughly enjoyed the book, and will probably continue down this line with Sense and Sensibility someday, if not soon.

*Upon researching, Jane Austen was the only (and hence oldest) sister, so would have gone by the name Miss Austen, according to the rules stated in her book.

**I use this word with caution, because I do not believe that any girl in this story actually loved her suitor/husband, with, of course, the exception of Jane.

Can't Wait for UPenn!

2009-07-15T10:10:00.000-07:00

My excitement for Philly and UPenn is increasing, helped along by the numerous awesome invites I keep getting, like the following:
----
We cordially invite you to attend our annual SUMMER BARBECUE!
Here’s all the details...
DATE: Friday, July 17th
TIME: Noon to 2:00pm
WHERE: In Front of Levine Hall
FOOD: Fresh grilled hamburgers, hot dogs, veggie burgers, corn on the cob
DRINK: Beer from Penn Engineering Alumnus Mark Edelson, owner of Iron Hill Brewery.
----

I approve!

No Internet after 9

2009-07-09T15:01:00.000-07:00

Inspired by Ravi's broken computer (and thus his lack of internet at home), I have decided to impose a "no internet after 9pm (on weekdays)" policy on myself. This way, I can better use my time during those nights by reading. Today I picked up Pride and Prejudice, The Satanic Verses, and A Tale of Two Cities from Moffitt- time to enlighten myself (sans Wikipedia)!

The Traditional Marriage Algorithm

2009-06-30T21:57:00.000-07:00

I was recently introduced to this concept of the Traditional Marriage Algorithm, also known as the Stable Marriage Algorithm. On hearing this name, my first instinct was to laugh. Typical computer scientists, try to break down love into a matter of numbers and algorithms (it reminded me of this classic xkcd).

To give a brief synopsis, with n girls and n boys, each ranks the opposite sex in order of preference. The goal is to find a stable pairing in which no girl or guy can find a better match (i.e. higher ranked than their current partner) and leave their existing marriage. In practice, each guy proposes to his top girl, whereas she can say no or maybe, and at the end of the day/round, she picks her top and rejects the other maybes. In the next day/round, the same thing happens again, and girls can "trade-up" their list, and men who were once engaged may no longer be so. A great explanation of the entire algorithm and its repercussions on both parties is found in this "Lecture 10: How to Think Like A Computer Scientist" from Duke's CS department.

While the purpose of teaching this to CS students is for proving algorithms, the most interesting point was the following: The Traditional Marriage Algorithm always produces a male-optimal, female-pessimal pairing. Meaning, the person who asks always gets the highest person on their list that would produce a stable pairing, whereas the person who waits to be asked doesn't necessarily walk away with the best possible mate.

What does this say about our dating patterns? As a girl, if I follow the standard and wait to be asked out, I am automatically losing. Well, it's a good thing I don't. Finally being a "forward" girl has been proven to pay off!

That said, there is a risk involved in being the "chooser". Looking back on my own experience, the times I have taken initiative (and thus chosen someone at the top of my list), are the only times I have been burned, or traded-up, in the case of this analogy. What the algorithm simply overlooks as "rounds" are in reality a series of break-ups, each involving months and possibly years of your time.

What does this finally mean? To avoid heartbreak, one should never date someone hotter/more-successful than themselves. However, for the promise of the best partner possible, the risk of being traded-up must be faced. Which would you choose?

Privatization of Public Assets

2009-06-22T20:55:00.000-07:00

From elementary school to community college to Cal, I have always prided myself on being a product of public education. I have always been a strong supporter of public education and do not see the need to pay the big bucks for success. I realize that, as a Californian, the bar for public education is much higher than other states and I'm fortunate in that aspect.

With that said, off I go to University of Pennsylvania, which is not only a private university, but also an Ivy League. I was always hesitant towards the Ivy League because (in my mind) it represented the incompetent, silver-spoon-fed heads of political (i.e. George W. Bush) and corporate (i.e. Rick Wagoner) America. My summer at Columbia shattered this illusion, but replaced it with the reality that Ivy League schools are run by incredibly disorganized administrations with elastic budgets and ill-defined goals. Public universities are more streamlined, more resourceful, and more efficient simply because they have to compete with private universities on a fraction of the budget.

Don't get me wrong, it's a great school and the opportunity is amazing, but part of me feels like I'm cheating on my values- paying for the brand name education in hopes of easing myself into a job based solely on prestige of my school.

What prompted this post? This past week, I officially became a Quaker. PennKey in hand, housing assigned, and classes picked, my excitement is quickly rising to join UPenn's Bioengineering community and Philadelphia in general, so I'm not exactly sure why I'm writing this negative post. Maybe it's to ease my guilt of leaving Cal. I may be a Quaker for a few years, but I'm Bear for life!

Kayak to Japan anyone?

2009-06-16T23:09:00.000-07:00

In honor of this awesome xkcd, the roommates and I asked Google Maps for directions from Berkeley to Catalina Island. Looking at the steps 13 and 27 below, it's good to know Google has a sense of humor.

Of Professors and Bums

2009-06-07T12:29:00.000-07:00

I noticed the weirdest and saddest parallel the other day: how similar and often indistinguishable Berkeley professors (specifically engineering professors) are to Berkeley bums. Don't believe me? Read ahead.

Both have frazzled, unkempt hair
Both wear clothing that looks like it was once respectable, clean and/or fashionable
Both are seen frequenting north side eateries such as Stuffed Inn and La Val's, voraciously scarfing down food, usually alone
Both can be seen walking around with piles of papers and mumbling incomprehensible phrases in angry bursts

:-)

Email Conundrums

2009-05-26T13:43:00.000-07:00

Having graduated (woot woot! yes, more on that later), I'm now facing the issue of changing/forwarding emails.

Problem 1: My @berkeley.edu account will soon (and apparently without warning) shut down. It has been my primary email for 4 years, and all my important accounts are linked to it.

Problem 2: My current @gmail.com address is a very unprofessional address. I wish to make a permanent and respectable email account that I can use for years to come. Something that is easy to remember and not embarrassing to have on a resume.

To solve the first problem, I have slowly started using my Gmail address for other online accounts. To solve the second problem, I have created a more professional Gmail using my name, not my 9th-grade AIM screen name. This however, creates:

Problem 3: Should I forward my new Gmail to my old one? Or should I forward the old to the new, which would allow me to slowly phase out the old one. Option 1 has the advantage that I keep my Google Calendar, Reader, Photos and Chat contacts. Option 2 has the advantage that Gmail will import all my contacts and email from the old account, and I can slowly but finally phase-out my incredibly difficult and childish AIM screen name, and I can consolidate all my emails into one, clean account. But this comes at the cost of losing my Google Photos, Reader, and Calendar.

Are there other options? Please give me suggestions!!

Auntie Kiran

2009-05-20T14:45:00.000-07:00

I was home last weekend, and had two one-on-one occasions with the baby (my nephew, Kabir). It was so much fun, and he is finally turning into a real creature. At close to 3 months, he's responding to our voices, cooing, grabbing things, and just being cute overall!

Liddle Date!

2009-05-11T16:16:00.000-07:00

After my last attempt to find the Berkeley waterfalls ended in a muddy face-plant, I never thought I'd go back. But I finally succeeded yesterday, with Kate's guidance! It couldn't have been a cuter date: biking mid-finals, then (stupidly) climbing up the waterfall (or in Kate's case, stepping in).

Either way, the waterfalls were much more impressive than I thought. It really was a tiny oasis in the middle of Berkeley, with no sign of surrounding city life. The waterfall is behind Cordonices Playground, up a few secret trails. For detailed directions how to get there, see Weekend Sherpa.

Conversations to Remember

2009-05-09T16:59:00.000-07:00

I do love my puns, and somehow R always manages to have the best ones:

R: So what is the deal with stalking Vassili? are you over Blah Blah? Quit vacillating!

:-D

Just for the record, I was not stalking anyone, just getting help reading a friend's blog that happened to be written in French.

How I Met Your Mother

2009-05-05T20:43:00.000-07:00

"But never forget, that any day, you could step out the door, and your life can change forever."

-Ted Mosby :-)

After what has been a trying three months, an exhausting few weeks, and a demoralizing day trying to figure out what the next step in my life is, this quote was just what I needed. It really takes off the pressure and allows me to let my life unfold.

Twitter

2009-04-27T21:22:00.000-07:00

As a generation who grew up with the internet at our sides, I've always wondered what type of technology it would take to "age" us. What new thing will our children rave about that we won't have any comprehension of? Today I got the first feeling of being "aged," and I realized that just one seemingly insignificant internet "phenomena" can do the trick. I speak, of course, of Twitter.

In the last few weeks, Twitter kept showing up in the most random times in my life. Now, I've been aware of Twitter for a very long time, and for the most part didn't feel the need to make an account solely for the purpose of updating my status. At that time, of course, I had a Facebook and it served that purpose (plus many more) just fine.

The alarming part wasn't simply how often Twitter was being mentioned, it was more about the legitimacy of the source. Here are some of the more notable mentions:

Strike 1: April 8th, 2009, Interview for a Technology Consulting firm

Interviewer: Do you Twitter?

Me: (blindsided) No, sorry, I don't.

Interviewer: It's okay, I don't either, the company made me put that question in there.

Strike 2a: Mid-April, 2009

Online I came across an interview of a notable politician (male, I can't remember the name) who mentions Twitter as one of his main news sources. Also, President Obama's use of Twitter in his campaign, though much earlier, was also surprising.

Strike 2b: April 26, 2009

Xkcd.com makes a comic about Twitter. Now this may sound trivial, but I love xkcd.com, and feel a little put down every time I don't understand something they post. I know it's silly, bite me.

Strike 3: April 27, 2009 (today), Starbucks

I was enjoying a mid-morning tea and scone at Starbucks, playing Solitaire on my phone and minding my own business. A 50-something lady sitting next to me says something about "I should get to my car, I don't want to get a parking ticket." I wasn't sure why she was telling me this, but I smiled politely at her. A minute later, she looks directly at me, says "I'd rather be talking to myself than be on Twitter," and guffaws loudly. What? Either she thought I was Twittering and ignoring her, or this 50-something lady had a Twitter and I didn't. Either way, I had had enough.

So today I joined Twitter. I might not need it or want it, but I shall give it a try. So Twitter me! www.twitter.com/ksekhon

My Not-so-Brewed Awakening

2009-04-25T17:36:00.000-07:00

Don't let the title mislead you, this post has nothing to do with coffee or Brewed Awakening, which has recently entered the Top 5 of my favorite Berkeley cafes (see Yelp for why). The awakening of which I speak is my social consciousness.

Today I participated in National Rebuilding Day to satisfy the community service requirement for BioEHS. The goal of the former organization is to improve living conditions of hard-pressed communities. So up I got at 7:10 am on a Saturday morning, and sans coffee, headed over to clean up the yard of a free clinic in West Berkeley, Lifelong Medical. While leading our landscaping team (Go Blistering Green Thumbs!) through two truck beds of wood chips and ground cover to provide a low-maintenance, water-conserving front yard, I began talking to the site leader, a Professor Emeritus from UCSF, about the clinic. In response to his gratitude for our work, I said "I'm happy to be here," and I realized that I really meant it. I honestly couldn't think of anything better to be doing on a Saturday morning than shoveling dirt around the yard of a free clinic. He went on to tell me how the proposed budget cuts by the state were going to force them to shut down some of these clinics, and it moved me so much I am actually writing a letter to the state assemblyman to contest these cuts. Wow, who would have thought, that in the countdown of my departure from Berkeley, my political apathy would finally succumb to Berkeley's activist spirits?

I joined BioEHS solely for the honors cord at graduation, and have always grumbled about completing their requirements for membership, but for the first time today, I felt like I understood why the requirements existed. I can't say I would have done either Berkeley Project (last semester) or National Rebuilding Day if they weren't required, but I definitely took away something positive from both. Even if the effect lasted only a day, I became a selfless, socially-conscious citizen while volunteering, which aren't words I would normally use to describe myself. I will no longer complain about BioEHS, or any other social organization for that matter, as I am finally realizing the importance of a well-rounded individual.

An Apple a Day... Keeps the PC Doctor Away

2009-04-22T23:47:00.000-07:00

While reading Lifehacker's interview with Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak, I came across a comment of his that made me double take: "When we first started with Apple computers, it was my dream that everyone would learn to program, and that was how they'd use their computer."

Being a recent PC --> Mac convert myself (note the one-sided arrow), if there is one major shortcoming I have noticed, it is that Mac's don't allow much user input. Apple's philosophy seems to be "well our way is just so damn good, you won't need to modify anything." With millions of users and a large emphasis on design, most of their flaws and inconveniences have already been ironed out, but needless to say millions of users have millions of different needs, so having a fixed user interface isn't perfect for everyone. What type of fixed functions am I speaking of? The most annoying example is how the function for closing your computer screen cannot be changed. With my Dell (may it rest in peace), I had it programmed (okay, wrong word in this context), I had it set to "do nothing" when closed, so I could close my screen when moving my laptop around or simply playing music. This is not an option with my Macbook. There are many such frustrations I came across almost daily when I first converted, but have now grown accustomed to.

Going back to the original quote, I find it surprising that Apple's software has trended towards minimal user input, especially when it was made by and for hackers. However, I am no programmer, so maybe I am just completely oblivious to this hackable, modifiable Mac. If that is the case, I would like to know! It might be time to hire me an unemployed EECS graduate to make some changes for me!

Reunited and it feels so good...

2009-04-12T22:07:00.000-07:00

After only 3 weeks without TDH, this post may seem unwarranted and overdramatic, but the joy that came with my recent bike ride begs to differ. It was a cloudy afternoon, and wanting to exercise, I hopped on my bike and within minutes I was out of the cloud range (clouds were hovering over just the campus, surprise surprise) and riding along the sunny bay, blissful as can be. The excitement and tingling sensation in my lower body (some not so metaphorical) from hopping on after so long wasn't even hampered by the pain in my quads from the lovely trek back home.

I didn't realize how integral having a bike had become to my life until I was in Berkeley without one. Suddenly simply getting to class and work was a 20 minute trek. I felt helpless and yearned for TDH every time it was sunny and I wanted to be active. Be it as a means for exercise or transportation, having a bike has become a part of my lifestyle. I am always hesitant to use the word "biker" when referring to myself because it alludes to competitive biking, but I feel I have now earned the title.

To the Parentals

2009-04-01T14:43:00.000-07:00

Today, as I walked home from my undemanding (and overpaying, in my opinion) job, wearing shorts and enjoying a Cookies n' Cream frozen yogurt on this rare sunny day in Berkeley, I couldn't help but think "wow, I love my life". It now hit me, what a friend meant, when months ago he said I lead a "cushy" life.

And who do I have to thank for this? Cliche as it may be, my parents. Despite the countless parenting errors they've made throughout the years (most of them, thankfully, with respect to my older siblings), they must have done something right along the way. Here I am, graduating from Cal and going on to an institute for higher education. Seriously, parents, good job. I can't imagine what it must be like, raising your children in a country and culture you are completely unfamiliar with, yet somehow they managed.

As graduation gets nearer, I'm increasingly tempted to do a reminiscent post about how much I've grown since I came to Cal, but more noteworthy is how much my parents have grown since I came to Cal. From the oppressive, overbearing control-freaks I left at home in August 2005, I now go home to relaxed, lenient parents who actually understand the concept of a two-way discussion about my future, trust my decisions and *dare I say it* acknowledge my independence. It's amazing how much they've adapted their parenting to my lifestyle. Whoever said you can't teach an old dog new tricks obviously hasn't seen the turnaround empty-nesting parents can do in four years. Not to give them more credit than they deserve, since relinquishing control over my life wasn't necessarily their choice, but still, they handled the power transfer gracefully, and to that I am grateful.

I'm grateful? What? Had I told the rebellious, 17-year-old me "you'll appreciate them four years from now," I would have laughed in my own face.

The Craft of Oatmeal

2009-03-21T17:51:00.000-07:00

After my sister's dire warning that eating eggs for breakfast every morning would catch up with me, I have been splitting my mornings between heart-hating eggs (yum) and heart-healthy oatmeal. And finally, after a few months of playing with the recipe, I have mastered my oatmeal! Better yet its vegan oatmeal.

Ingredients: oatmeal, soy milk, nutmeg, and brown sugar

You need approximately 2:5 ratio of oatmeal to soy milk (this can be tweaked in order to assure your oatmeal cooks for at least 15 minutes before thickening too much). First put the milk on the stove (low-medium heat, keep it low if your pot isn't non-stick), once it is visibly warm (but before boiling), add a pinch (~1/8 tsp) of nutmeg for each serving, and stir in. Next add the oatmeal and let it cook for about 15 minutes, stirring frequently (this helps condense the soymilk and thicken the oatmeal). Finally, when you're done and it's off the stove, add brown sugar to taste!

Soy has always gone well with nutty spices such as nutmeg, but adding the brown sugar on top just makes this oatmeal a cozy winter delight!

:-)

Technical Communication

2009-02-08T22:00:00.000-08:00

In the past four years, I've had to read many books I didn't exactly enjoy, either because they were long-winded (Morris' Structures and Properties of Materials), poorly written (Popov's Mechanics), or just uninteresting (History of Modern Southeast Asia). But for the first time, I am reading a book that is actually offensive.

The book, Technical Communication by Mike Markel, explains how to effectively write and speak when preparing reports, giving instructions, or addressing superiors in technical environment. It first makes a great point of listing eight "Measures of Excellence" (like clarity, conciseness, comprehensiveness, etc.) that are essential for technical communication. However, starting with the second chapter, the book nosedives. One of the eight measures it lists is gearing your writing to the correct audience- making sure the language is formal/informal and advanced/basic as you expect your readers to be. Markel completely ignores his own point as he devotes entire sections to teaching college engineers how to "Use E-mail to Send Files." At first I figured this must be an old textbook, written when "e-mail" was first introduced. But it's copyrighted 2007. The entire text not only over explains the most fundamental concepts, but targets it to a fifth-grade reading level. Ironically enough, Markel mentions that if your language isn't appropriate to the audience's level, they may not trust your content and be compelled to follow its instructions as well.

To make matters worse, the chapter on working in groups- which is actually necessary for many engineers- opens with "Participating in a meeting involves listening and speaking...Listening is more than just hearing..." and continues at this level, insulting the intelligence of its readers sentence by sentence.

Ugh.

How to break into The Claremont Spa

2009-02-04T21:06:00.000-08:00

In case someone Googles this exact phrase 50 years from now:

To break into the Claremont Resort & Spa's hot tub, go in ~1/2 hour after it closes (10:30pm), walk into the Claremont like you own the place, nod to the Concierge, make a right at the elevators, and right before you hit the elevators, there are stairs going down to the Spa. Follow the stairs. On the way down you will see this picture- it is every bit as good as it looks.

Be careful not to get caught. Hopefully the frosted glass doors will be cracked open (i.e. assuming janitors are cleaning), and keep following the hallway until you hit the Men's and Women's Spa. Enter the one that doesn't have a janitor. And soak. Quietly.

:-)

Sometimes the best compliments are those least expected

2009-01-17T14:52:00.000-08:00

Why, thank you, Yelp. I did put contacts on for the first time in 3 weeks, thanks for noticing.

:-)

Geek Day 2009!

2009-01-10T14:55:00.007-08:00

Yesterday was a very exciting day for me, it began with Macworld 2009 at the Moscone Center and ended with the Crunchies after party at SF City Hall. Although I'm not a techie myself, and perhaps because of it, I've always idolized the innovative, anyone-can-do-it attitude of Silicon Valley startups. There's something incredibly attractive about creative young minds clawing over one another to be the next big thing in technology, something that brings out the wide-eyed, groupie side of me I didn't realize existed. This considered, yesterday was like my birthday and Christmas combined- I spent a good part of the day having casually intellectual conversations with some of the brightest minds in the Bay Area and exploring the newest fads in technology.

Noteworthy things from Macworld:

-Axiotron Modbook Pro: Apple's Macbook converted into a tablet. Advantages: Its the only tablet available for Mac users. Disadvantages: Because its made from Apple's new unibody aluminum frame, it doesn't swivel out to a normal laptop, hence it lacks a keyboard.

-Crash Plan: A free software for automatic online backup. You can back up to any other computer in your house, obviously to a hard drive, and even online. Advantages: Free (with a few ads), its always on so no need to schedule backups, and it greatly compresses your hard drive using data deduplication. Disadvantages: A few ads, I guess.

-iLife 2009: Probably not a big deal for current Mac users, but it was my first exposure to this software package. The most impressive update was the iterative auto-tagging feature in iPhoto and location-based organization of photos. I was also introduced to Garage Band, which I think could be a great tool for learning to play music. Advantages: Like the labels as opposed to folders in Gmail, iPhoto allows multiple means of photo organization (date, region, event type, people). Disadvantages: As with most of Apple's products, there are numerous unnecessary bells and whistles that makes their software almost overwhelming.

-Nadachair: Simple straps to give you back support when sitting in a chair for extended periods. Advantages: Feels great while using it. Disadvantages: Makes back pain more noticeable once taken off.

-Rocstor: Portable external hard drives that can hold 500 GB and fit in your pocket. Enough said.

There was a significant (if not overbearing) presence of iPhone software and accessories. And a surprising amount of HD recording devices. I was more excited about the latter, because the 'High Definition' label is slowly spreading to the masses and no longer exclusive to professional sports.

Finally, Crunchie after party came around! Taken by a Googlite nominee for 'Best Mobile App', I met up with my fellow techie groupie, and we spent the night scouting out 'celebrities' and meeting people of various levels of accomplishment from various aspects of technology (a VC from Seattle, a NASA Ames engineer, and the founder of Tapulous, for example). What surprised me the most was how approachable people were in this scenario. Unlike the awkward, segregated 4-5 person huddles that characterize the first hour of a typical college party, at the Crunchies, random people were constantly showing up in our group and introducing themselves. Conversation was never difficult, and I must say I learned a surprising amount:

-"easter eggs" are hidden features included in any program or application that are meant for the rare user to stumble upon by accident

-the rapid proliferation of the iPhone application market has lead most vendors to sell at prices below their cost of production ($0.99/application doesn't begin to pay off until you've sold at least a few hundred thousand)

-Microsoft Surface is AMAZING! It's essentially a coffee table-sized iPhone, except it can be programmed to recognize objects placed on top of it (i.e. a sunglasses lense), and give the user the name and pricing of the object. Although its current market is businesses wishing to create an interactive shopping environment in-store, I can foresee this replacing actual coffee tables in a decade.

-Mark Zuckerberg still looks a bit like a sweaty teen.

-MC Hammer is now an active investor in multiple tech startups. But he still dresses like an ol' G.
G'nite folks!

How Many Berkeley Engineers does it take...

2009-01-08T13:11:00.006-08:00

to change a tire? Well 4, and in 3 hours.

Of yesterday's trip to Tahoe:

The acme: Seeing Pai slide down a black diamond, on his back, head-first, board still attached, for approximately 1 minute straight. If there was ever a time in my life I wish I had a camera, that was it. I still lose composure every time I think about it.

The nadir: Realization that none of us knew how to change a tire. I mean, you don't understand how low that was. I know, Bioengineers and EECS aren't exactly meant to be mechanics, but definitely realized that book educations can only get you so far if you lack basic know-how.

The legen...wait for it...dary*: Hydroplaning on Highway 88, resulting in a few icy spins on the highway, and ending in the rear end of Atul's 4-runner jammed in a snowbank. Minus the front tire (popped) and trunk door (dented), we came out just fine. And on our way back, we found that crash spot to document this day. Pictures, Quyen?

*Okay, so we're all addicted to this phrase, and the ingenious show it comes from. I'm assuming this phrase, like "That's what she said", will soon tire out. In the mean time, get ready for more HIMYM allusions.

Online PDF Converter

2009-01-06T20:17:00.001-08:00

I just found this great website that converts any document into a .pdf, without any software download, fee, login or registration. Its amazingly simple, spread the word!

http://www.doc2pdf.net/

:-D

6 days, 3 cultures

2009-01-05T22:37:00.006-08:00

In the last week, I've bounced around quite a bit and noticed how disparate (GRE word, check!) the cultures can be in regions that are geographically so close.

Point 1: Fairfield, CA
Inhabited by Budweiser-drinking, fast-food chain-frequenting, V8-driving, obese (I guess that doesn't need any explaining) Caucasians. Colloquially known as Middle America.

Point 2: South Lake Tahoe, CA
Inhabited is a bit of strong term here because the population in this ski town is very transient, so we'll say it's frequented by easy-going, community college-attending, drug-abusing, "gnarly"-using, predominantly Caucasian twenty-somethings who live for winter sports. Also known as 'ski bums'.

Point 3: San Francisco, CA
Yuppies. Hippies. Yippies. You name it, SF has it. For those who don't know, yuppies are young urban professionals, so twenty-something college graduates making a career and living the fast-paced, high-stress, Starbucks-drinking, bluetooth headset-donning, (and recently) iPhone-toting life only a truly metropolis can provide. The hippies (evolved from original hipsters of SF), would be the vegetarian, Whole Foods-shopping, fixie bike-riding, yoga-teaching twenty-somethings living the green life (pun intended). Of course, most people fall in between both those characterizations, hence the term yippies.

Despite my intention to make an impartial comment on three different cultures, subjectivity crept in (and not subtly, at that), and its obvious which one I relate most to. I'm sure my opinions weren't the least bit influenced by Yippie origins in Berkeley's Free Speech Movement and the fact that San Francisco will most likely be my next city of residence.

But the broad cultural spectrum within a 4-hour driving distance still astonishes me. Is this specific to California- is it because we have multiple terrains in a small area and each terrain breeds a different culture- or is this a national phenomena?

Lost in Translation

2008-12-29T16:24:00.002-08:00

So I discovered, today, that despite my fluency in both Punjabi and English, there are some things that do indeed, get lost in translation.

Scenario: I'm waiting in line at a drive-thru Starbucks (I know, ironic, given the post below) for almost 25 minutes with my parents. Being stuck in anywhere with my parents (i.e. our home) is very frustrating, but the confines of a car, along with the knowledge that we were boxed in this drive-thru line, was just too much for my claustrophobic nature. Anywho, I quickly got frustrated listening to them bicker, and said the following: "GODDD, what is it about being in a car with you two that just makes me want to kill myself?!"

I thought nothing of the event until just now, when my Dad comes to me, honestly worried, about why such a small thing as my parents bickering would make me want to kill myself. He goes on to tell me that he'd been thinking about it all night and all day today, about what could be bothering my young little mind so much that I would contemplate suicide.

HAHA. What I said was obviously an hyperbole (GRE word of the day, check!), but apparently there is no room for exaggeration in Punjabi.

Small city girl, big city dreams

2008-12-27T17:02:00.003-08:00

As of two days ago, I have dived headfirst into GRE-land, and I'm noticing how different my study style is here in Suisun City versus in Berkeley.

Pro-suburbia
-I have a car, so weather and distance doesn't hinder me from going out to study
-Drive-thru Starbucks!
-'Cash-only' is an unheard of concept
-Mom makes me breakfast and dinner everday, and chai is available around the clock
-Because there are no universities nearby, libraries are never crowded, parking and/or desk availability is never an issue

Con-suburbia
-Library closes at 5pm (wtf?!)
-Because the libraries cater to elementary schools, are the desks and chairs are super low (nothing more awkward than looking up from my 'private booth' and seeing a 60-year old Asian man staring me in the face)
-Mom doesn't understand the concept of lunch; its breakfast, chai-break, dinner (how Indians are still so obese is beyond my comprehension)
-No T1 connection at library (I'd be suprised if it was even DSL)

On the other hand, I'm actually enjoying studying for the GRE. I know, shoot me, I'm a nerd. But maybe its because without school to worry about, I'm in a very relaxed, nay reposed, state of mind and the daily dose of mental stimulation is actually welcome.

4 months!

2008-12-17T10:30:00.002-08:00

I moved out of my NY apartment on August 19th. Today I finally received my security deposit back. Almost 4 months later, and after many hassling emails and canceled checks and stories of stolen checkbooks and lost mail. I'm not sure what my subletter's deal was, but just a warning: If you're going to sublet a place that is far from your normal home, I would suggest leaving with the security deposit and/or money you are owed in hand. And a check isn't good enough, because as I learned, they can write a check and then cancel it.

On the bright side, I totally forgot about this money and feel like I just got gifted $500. Now where to blow it?

Egg-rolls!

2008-12-15T07:49:00.002-08:00

Today, I mastered the 1-egg omelet. A great accomplishment, I've been working on it for about 2 weeks. So normally I love making omelets but don't like eating them, but I realized that's because the egg:insides ratio was too high. So I tried making omelets with only 1 egg, it was very difficult, but today I succeeded. Except the finished product looks more like a Japanese Hand-Roll than an omelet, but its made of eggs, hence the name Egg-roll. I'm open to suggestions on names. Anyway, the 1-egg omelet is deliiiicious, so now I can finally make and eat omelets! Q I think I'll have you over to celebrate morning of the 20th.

Peace, love and Breakfast!

Jazz!

2008-12-11T21:12:00.002-08:00

I bought my very first jazz CD yesterday! While having dinner at my new favorite Thai restaurant, Anchalee, I went to the bathroom and discovered local band Time Out Quartet playing at the neighboring cafe. After their show, I picked up their promotional CD, short and simple, only 8 songs.

While cranking out my Philosophy 2 paper yesterday, I popped the CD into my computer and was amazed. It was an instant transformation- suddenly my living room was this peaceful, romantic setting with sound so crisp and clear that it felt as if the band was playing from my balcony. It was pure, unadulterated music coming from the speakers- no singers, no one to tell me what the song should make me feel. Just me and the music. And Kant and Mill. It was a good night.

In case anyone's interested, I put the .zip of the album on sendspace, feel free to download and listen!

Two straight days of writing, now I'm out. G'nite!

Googlove!

2008-12-01T20:18:00.002-08:00

Yes, yes. I am obsessed with Google. One failure, one serendipity to note.

Failure: A contact appeared in my chat list, whom I have never spoken to in person, but emails me frequently for BioEHS. And while the appearance of chat contacts is common, I cannot block this person for some reason. I have tried multiple times. For four days. And this person will not disappear. I know its not the end of the world, but I am very specific about who is in my chat list. I like to have the automatically adding feature because it lets me know when some of my friends (or GSIs, *cough, cough* Aaron Fields *cough, cough*) are on Gmail even though they might be emailing through their Berkeley account.

Serendipity: My gCalendar (yes, I stole that notation from the owners of iEverything, Apple) for December is all green (School Stuff) and red (UCB Academic Calendar). While that spells hell for me because it means its mostly finals and projects due, it is cute that it just happens to be holiday colors.

The Ever-Evasive Meaning of Life

2008-11-25T14:58:00.007-08:00

After years of hearing about his radical theories, I am now finally reading the works of the German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche. And I must say he was worth the wait. After 12 weeks of scoffing at the 'moral dilemmas' posed by the Ancient Greeks, and overlooking Mill's Utilitarianism as an impractical utopia, I was finally stopped in my (mental) tracks today by something Nietzsche said.

Nietzsche poses a question to his audience using an obscure concept called eternal recurrence (first posed to me, rather unconvincingly, by Schopenhauer): Imagine the life you are living, every moment you are experiencing, is going to repeat itself eternally. This exact life as you are leading it will happen to you again and again. Given this, is there something you would do differently?

The point of his question, in its clever disguise, was to make people analyze their life in this moment, this exact moment. So if you didn't have a past, and there was no tomorrow, would your current action, your current emotion, have any meaning?

As a relatively driven crowd of college students, we are always looking towards tomorrow. I wake up every morning so I can go to school. I go to school so I can get a degree. I get a degree in order to have a (potentially) successful career. This list goes on, one action always motivated by another, future goal. It culminates in having a comfortable, peaceful death. Is that it? Do we really postpone our happiness for the duration of our lifetime? Was Solon correct in saying "count no man happy until he is dead"? That is a rather depressing thought.

So I thought and I thought. I scoured my memories for moments in my life that had meaning just in themselves. Moments that, when stripped of their intentions (past) and consequences (future), I would happily repeat. Here are some of the contenders: eating ice-cream, having sex, going on bike rides, and sleeping.

Upon further analysis, I realized I eat to satisfy my hunger (future), and I will not eat if I am already full (past), so eating doesn't prevail. Bike rides are pleasurable to me, but partly because of that sore and satisfied feeling they give the next day, and partly because they are usually accompanied with an exciting destination, so biking doesn't hold either. The pleasure in sleep is contingent upon exhaustion from the previous day, so nor does that hold.

Now for sex. Well, there are two motivations for sex: orgasm and love; but there are no further motivations for either of those. I orgasm to orgasm. And I love to love. Well there it is, the ultimate meaning of my life is defined by love and orgasm.

Wait, what?! This is absurd. Surely Nietzsche, the man who questioned the existence of good and evil, wasn't such a romantic as to believe in living for love? Am I completely misinterpreting this or did Nietzsche have it all wrong and our lives aren't defined by moments?

I encourage you to think about the moments that define your life.

Questions, comments and criticisms are highly appreciated.

Guess who's back?

2008-10-11T12:46:00.003-07:00

I've been meaning to start this blog up again, but I couldn't muster up the energy to do so creatively. So I'm settling for copying Quyen.

What's a fact about the last person who had their arms around you?
He is on a $1000 spending spree.

What do you currently hear right now?
Wind blowing, leaves rustling on Dwight.

Where did you get the shirt you are wearing?
Bryan.

When was the last time you were told you were beautiful?
Walking home from Emo Palace last week by strangers.

Are you wearing a necklace? Who got it for you?
No, I hate necklaces, they give me rashes.

What was the reason you got grounded for last?
Haha, with my parents, its a constant grounding.

Do you wish you never dated someone you dated ?
I don't do regret.

Do you know anyone that smokes weed?
More people than I wish.

Anyone's Birthday today?
Let me check Facebook. Haha. No one significant.

Where is the furthest place you've traveled?
India

Do you look more like your mom or your dad?
Dad, sadly, got the hairy genes from him for sure.

How long does it take you to shower?
15 minutes on a work/school day. 20-25 when relaxing.

What was last thing you drank ?
Water.

If you could have one thing right now what would it be?
Show me a Genie and I'll tell you.

What was for dinner last night ?
Blondie's Pizza (for the first time since June 2005!!)

Does anyone love you?
Lots of people do.

How has the week been?
Great! 119 MT wasn't as bad as I expected, got a few nice bike rides and runs in, and finally met the fun people in BioEHS.

What girls can you tell every thing to?
Yaad, Quyen, Nina, Rebe

Have you ever kissed anyone who' s name started with a M?
Hahah, I don't have the energy to go through the list.

What did you do at 7 am today ?
Sleep!

What did you do today ?
Let Atul into the apartment at 2:30am. Then later got up, made a delicious breakfast burrito, read the paper, cleaned the apartment, did GRE words.

Have you ever seen your best friend cry?
Hmm, yes.

Do you dance in the car?
Amongst other things, yes. ;-)

What color shirt are you wearing?
Lime green, baby!

What were you doing 1 hour ago?
Showering.

Do you have reason to smile right now?
Always, I have amazing people in my life!

Have you ever woke up next to someone and wanted to puke?
HAHAHA! No, does peeing count?

Do you have a bestfriend?
I have many loves :-).

Are you looking forward to anything?
Watching another sunset today!

What went wrong today ?
Nothing so far!

Do you open up to people easily?
Superficially, yes. But at the most personal level, only to a few people.

Has anyone upset you in the past week?
Yes, but nothing traumatic.

Do you think you would be a good parent?
I'm going to be a GREAT parent!

Is your room clean ?
Sure, but I never make my bed.

What are you going to do tomorrow?
Hike up to Mt. Tamalpais and have a pancake breakfast at the top! Then hopefully a Bhangra Collective @ Union Square Park later.

Who was driving the last car you were in?
Bryan

Who was the last person that texted you?
Kate

What are you craving right now?
A secluded, car-free bike ride!

How did you sleep last night ?
Great, despite the 2:30am disruption. :-)

Do you think you will be in a relationship 3 years from now?
Haha, I don't think that far.

A Moment of Silence

2008-07-16T17:56:00.016-07:00

Today I am retiring my little black bikini. My first bathing suit, purchased with the help of Kate freshman year, it has provided me with countless hours of coast-to-coast fun. It has, however, seen its final sunset, and I am now ready to let it go with what little dignity it has left. To commemorate it, I thought I'd go through and list some of the amazing places its been with me, in the mean time reminiscing some great college times.

Bought June 2006, that infamous day of Core 4 at Santa Cruz. 4 friends, 5 hours of digging, 6-foot hole, a day we'll never forget.
November 2006: Going to visit Meemz at UCSD with Yaad. Goes down as top-five weekends in college still.
Just an idea of how silly we act around each other:
June 2007: Visiting Atul at USC with Rustin, Shirin, J-dub and Rebe. Another top-five weekend, so great to be driving around in LA with a stolen car- the great company made even the blistering heat and crawling traffic seem fun.

August 2007: The infamous trip to Santa Cruz with Shirin and Bryan, enough said.
September 2007: Pismo Beach, RCSA Inter-UC Super-Retreat. 50 nerds jammed into two connecting condos + booze + beach = insanity. And lets not forget the ATV'ing afterwards.
February 2008: Another trip to San Diego, this time to see Meemz, Yaad and Shalane. Awesome canoeing with UCSD Hawaiin Club!
March 2008: Bone Ski Trip. Skiing at Heavenly with the (UCSF) lab and afterwards relaxing in the jacuzzi out in the snow.
March 2008: Spring break in Clearlake, inner-tubing and practically drowning in 40 degrees water!
Last but not least, an entire semester of swim class that stretched my suit from spin-drying, and all to no avail. When my suit finally reached Jones Beach last weekend, it was so loose I was scared it was going to get smacked off and leave me exposed every time a wave hit me. With these good times behind it, I lay this suit to rest.

:-)

Google Maps Gone Commercial!

2008-07-16T11:21:00.003-07:00

When it first released, one of Gmail's ground-breaking features was the text-only advertisements. For such a versatile and free email client, text-only ads are definitely worth it. They don't increase page loading times, they're not flashy or obtrusive like good old days of Hotmail and Go (my first email address was k_quantus@go.com), and the fact that they're customized to each email sometimes turns out to be useful.

However, while searching for the location of the MoMA yesterday, I noticed something interesting as I zoomed in on my location:
The ingenious bastards had snuck ads into Google Maps as well! At first I saw the Museum of Modern Art and Rockefeller Center labelled, and I figured, okay, a nonprofit organization and a NYC icon make sense. But once I saw the Hilton and Tiffany & Co, I knew those had to be paid advertisements.

I'm not sure how I feel about it just yet, but if at a fully-zoomed in map of Manhattan (as dense as the streets get), those little ads aren't doing any harm, I can't see why not. If anything, they are helpful, because knowing the location of your destination in relation to a city landmark (aka Rockefeller Center) can only help in finding it. However, I do hope Google doesn't get greedy and increase the density of their ads, because then it can be problematic.

Wading in the Red River

2008-07-13T20:04:00.026-07:00

I had my first Californian visit last week! It was so much fun and really made me feel like I had things to share in this city, so I hope to get more visitors! Bryan got here 4th of July, unfortunately missing his flight and therefore missing the beautiful Macy's fireworks. However, me and the GS kids had the fortune of watching the fireworks at South Seaport from Jake's private 13th-floor balcony with not only a great view of the fireworks, but the Brooklyn Bridge and the waterfall underneath it as well. It was really nice to see the entire GS crowd together, have a few beers and enjoy the view.
Saturday July 5th: Headed to Chinatown and hopped on the infamous Fung Wah bus to Boston. Despite all the crazy things I've heard about it, it was an uneventful ride, arrived in 4 hours exactly.

My first impression of Boston was: how antique. For some reason it totally slipped my mind how important Boston was in the founding of this country. Even more amazing was how well this city has retained that early colonial feel. On top of the east coast tradition of red-brick buildings (aka brownstones) Boston is dotted with historical statues commemorating famous sites and numerous 'first American ___'.

Saw the beautiful Hancock Building, one of the two buildings that comprise the Boston skyline (wow, I can see the NYC pretension creeping up on me).

Had drinks at the Top of the Hub, the 51st floor of the Prudential building. On top of a delicious Purple Rain Martini, I got beautiful views of the entire Boston-Cambridge area, sunset on the Charles River, and Fenway Park.

After this, we ambled down Newbury Street, which is full of cute little shops, including my favorite, Sugar Heaven, with ten different flavors of fudge, mostly alcoholic. Came across this great bookstore/cafe, Trident, where I picked up a few artsy gifts and had delicious Pumpkin Ravioli (my pumpkin fetish continues off-season). Next door was JP Lick's, a famous ice-cream place, which I sadly didn't try because I was too full, but judging from the lines, it must have been delicious.

Sunday:

Walked the Freedom Trail, coming across numerous historical sites on the way.

Visited the New England Aquarium. I'm not a big proponent of trapping animals and displaying them for minimal didactic value, but the jellyfish exhibit was fascinatingly well-lit, and the penguins were very cute.

Walked through North End, the Italian district, and went to another hot-spot, Mike's Pastries, with lines out the door for canolis. Here I had my first real Boston experience: Someone left their dog in the car in the blistering heat with no open windows, and this cop comes around asking "Does anyone have New Yaaak plates with a daaag in the cahhh?" When they couldn't find the owner, all these burly t-shirt clad firemen come and split the door open and save the tiny little, to the applaud of thick-accented, shamrock-tattooed Bostoners. Awesome.

Continuing the walk around the (thankfully) small city, we went to both Cheers bar locations, and walked through Boston Commons, which is their equivalent of Central Park.

Monday:
I got semi-early, went to visit MIT and while trying to get breakfast, I accidentally happened upon Harvard campus and enjoyed my Finagle Bagle with Lox spread on the steps of some Harvard Building. I came across a great comic store in Harvard Square, had some quarter-machine tell me (and the whole store, in its booming voice) my fortune.

As many of you know, MIT was my first-love, the university that I had my heart set on and was twice crushed by. I had to go see the campus, imagine what it would be like walking from class to class there. Unfortunately the campus had no maps, so I couldn't do much but walk around aimlessly and see which building didn't require access to enter. The newer buildings exude innovation and technology, but even the older buildings one can imagine were modern at their time of making. All in all, MIT's architecture stood out like a beacon of contemporary design in a sea of colonial antiquity.

After the hot campus tour, I sat at the MIT sail pavilion, soaked my feet in the Charles River, and enjoyed the great view of Boston from across the water.

That night we scalped tickets to a Red Sox vs. Minnesota Twins game at Fenway Park. Fun game with great plays but no scoring until the 8th inning. I got to see the intensity of Red Sox fans: very few people without jerseys, and strangers high-fiving strangers every time the Sox scored.

We finally made it back to NY Tuesday afternoon, regrouped after 3 nights of sleeping on couches, and watched our first Broadway musical, Rent at Nederlander Theatre in Times Square that night. I must say, I wasn't prepared for how emotionally intense it was, and it left me a bit depressed at the end. However, if you go prepared for an emotional musical, you might appreciate it more. That is not to say the acting and singing weren't great, however.

Afterwards, we cruised through Rockefeller center, only to see this mini (well not so mini) Erector set model of the Rockefeller building right out in front of it. This model wasn't there about a month ago, which just goes to show how the city never stagnates, and its always worth revisiting the tourist hot-spots.

Wednesday July 8th: Visited the Met, and this time I got to see the amazing Egyptian exhibit. What constantly blows my mind is how artistic a culture they were, and I enjoyed seeing their ornate, hand-crafted jewelry and intricately carved tombs.

Afterwards, we had some real New York pizza at Lombardi's, which is apparently 'America's first Pizzeria'. The pizza was simple and delicious, and right across the street was amazing Rice to Riches, a snazzy, modern dessert place devoted entirely to flavors and flavors of rice pudding.

Later that night, after a failed attempt to find Hudson River Flicks, we went to the Fat Cat, an unpretentious gaming-bar-meets-jazz-club where Bryan kicked my ass in chess in 30 seconds flat.

Thursday July 9th:
Went to my first gallery opening in NY! A radio station called WNYC (the local NPR, apparently), had a competition of NY street photography, which is essentially capturing people in their daily (or not so daily) routine. The top 35 photos were displayed, out of approximately 10,000 submitted. I loved how the photos covered every aspect of NY: the subway station, models, Wall Street men, historic streets, the homeless, and even the snowy winters. My favorite photo is below, showing the painful breaking of a ceramic bowl of brightly-colored fruit on the sidewalk.

Afterwards was some bar-hopping in the West Village, ending with Bryan lighting fireworks in the middle of the street at 2am to the cheering of spectators, and visiting the craziest sex-fantasy shop I've seen so far.

Friday: Watched Brazilian Girls in concert at Prospect Park, which was eclectic dance music, fun and free.

Saturday:
Finally got to see Jones Beach, or any beach for that matter, since California. So much fun, the water is tons warmer than Pacific Ocean, and the waves much fiercer. We all definitely got thrown around multiple times, my favorite being knocked into the ground and then back-flipped all by the same wave.

On the way back, we went to Beer Garden at Bohemian Hall in Queens. Essentially an outdoor bar with good, cheap beer and a crazy German grill going, we ended up staying there for several hours with a constant flux of new people leaving or joining the group.

Sunday:
Upload photos, recover, regroup and get ready for work!

An Affair to Remember

2008-07-02T19:29:00.022-07:00

Last week, while watching The New York Philharmonic concert in Central Park, under the stars with the Manhattan skyline to my right and fireworks overhead, it hit me what a romantic city this is. Sitting in a crowd of 60,000 on the grass, looking around I realized a fair portion were couples, cuddling on towels. Not that I needed a date to enjoy the amazing symphony while lying down star-gazing, but it suddenly occurred to me how many of the events I've been to would have been perfect dates. Outdoor movies, jazz clubs, touring Times Square, or simply crossing the Brooklyn Bridge.

The New York Philharmonic at Great Stage in Central Park

Fireworks after the concert

This city would be perfect place to fall in love. Or even a summer fling. What girl hasn't dreamed of coming to this city, meeting a classy, 20-something Wall Street yuppie in a suit (sorry GS, interns don't count) and getting swept off her feet? The summer would pass in a whirlwind of classy opera nights, exclusive club openings and breathtaking starlit walks along the Hudson River. Weekends would entail trips to the ever-elusive Hamptons, while weeknights would start with poetry readings and culminate in salsa dancing and night-caps under the stars. The only time I wouldn't be in a dress would be when I was in a bikini, and my feet would become insensitive to pain once slipped into a nice pair of heels. I would never run out of energy, and when I did, Mr. Wall Street would be there to pick up the slack. In circumstances like these, who could avoid falling in love?

Sigh. Well, a girl can dream. I've made my bed and I don't regret lying in it, but for this summer, I'll settle for an affair with the city itself.
---
Other interesting happenings of the last week:
Friday the 27th: Cold War Kids free concert at Prospect Park Bandshell with GS.

Followed by another trip to Wall St., drinking, singing (with Ravi on guitar) and playing 'Truth, Dare or Shot' on Derek's terrace. All in all, great night full of good music, good company, embarrassing revelations and ballsy dares (most between people who had just met that night).

Wall St.

Ravi strumming out my favorites, 'Wonderwall' and 'Under the Bridge'
Dare#2: Stripping/dancing behind a screen, very fun to watch the guys going nuts for this.

Saturday the 28th: Lots of drinks and dancing at Mannahatta, a good cross between a bar and a club. Lesson learned: no dancing barefoot in a bar, broken glass everywhere. Thanks for all the help that night guys, especially Hemant! This is the only decent picture I have, I really wish we had fit everyone else in it, or that I was looking at the camera.

Summer 08 Trifecta!

Goodnight Cali!

La Douleur Exquise

2008-06-22T16:20:00.026-07:00

Despite the bustling and craziness of this city, despite the barrage of culture in the form of arts and music, despite the daily novelty of exploring new neighborhoods, new 'hot spots'- a day hasn't gone by when I haven't thought about my California loves. I feel like every new sight- whether it is the mention of 'Jewish frizz' or a Spongebob Squarepants balloon vendor in the park- comes with the memory of someone back home. Every time I do something exciting or fun, I feel a pang in my chest imagining how it would be thousand-fold better with the Californians.

The only thing more beautiful than realizing how much you love the people in your life and how blessed you are to live among so many uniquely phenomenal personalities is the exquisite pain of knowing you can't be with them.

This constant, nagging feeling culminated in a teary, drunken emotional release this weekend. Coming home from yet another crazy night, to phone calls and texts of the Berkeley crowd doing it big in Milpitas, I couldn't help but wonder why I left. What finally set me on emotional overload was receiving the best poem I've ever been written from the best friend I can ever hope for. Packed into 22 verses were the collective inside jokes, joys and sorrows of my past 3 years at Cal. I've never felt more loved and missed, and I finally realized that real friendships transcend time and distance barriers. I needn't worry about drifting apart, for all the history we've made as a group will more than hold up the fort while the physical presence is absent. I can't wait to pick up where we left off in August, guys.

And now I understand Rushdie's motivation in writing:
"Travel is pointless. It removed you from the place in which you had a meaning, and to which you gave meaning in return by dedicating your life to it, and it spirited you away into fairylands where you were, and looked, frankly absurd."

All the emotions handled, this is not to say I haven't kept up the exploration. With a slow week at work waiting for supplies to arrive, I had free evenings to check out some cool events.

Tuesday: Museum of Sex, very interesting and very cheap (~$9), I would suggest it for anyone who is genuinely interested in the history of sex and its progression in American culture. My favorite exhibit was 'Sex in Design/Design in Sex', and runner up was 'Action: Sex and the Moving Film'. I posted pictures here, but be warned, they are explicit! Also in the album, is Stars of Tomorrow, a series of free Jazz concerts at Hudson River Park.

Friday: Lunch with the entire lab at Dinosaur BBQ, a restaurant known for its custom-made sauces. Anyone who loves meat should go here.
Romeo and Juliet at Inwood Hill Park (218th St. and Indian Rd.), part of Uptown Arts Stroll sponsored by Columbia. This park was at the northwestern tip of Manhattan, and the play was very nice because for once, there weren't huge crowds, and the actors were actually professionals. Also, the park itself is very large, reclusive and peaceful, wrapping around multiple lakes.
Watched The Incredible Hulk at Times Square, then The Town Tavern in West Village with Keaton. All in all, great night, trying hard not to pass out on the Subway, and made it home by 5!

Saturday: The longest day of the year, celebrated in full style by the longest night ever.

Checked out The Met (Columbia students get in free!). Couldn't expect to get through it all in one visit, so we focused on the Superheroes Exhibit, and the Modern Art wing. Came across some very cool pieces in both.

Then dinner at Chinatown, walked around Little Italy (they're side by side, which I thought was funny) for a bit, then headed to St. Marks Place, at this Korean restaurant/bar called Gama, where about 10 Goldman people showed up. I'm liking this GS crowd, the more I meet- they're all nerdy engineers who know how to have fun, my favorite kind!
The great thing about having a New Yorker in your group (Derek's roommate Chris), is that they know where to go and they take you to all the great places. We had the most amazing munchies, this fries place at St. Marks with about 15 different dipping sauces (if only I could remember the name!).

Next we headed to this awesome lounge called the Coffee Shop in Union Square. It has a bar downstairs with a great, relaxing atmosphere (which still allows you to dance when the right song comes on). It asks for semi-classy attire, and drinks are reasonably priced (for NY and its location).
Last but not least, we headed down to Wall Street to relax on the Derek/Chris' terrace, which has an amazing view of the entire Financial District. Finally, when the sky started turning blue again, we called it a night and I made the painfully slow trek uptown on the 2, which runs local at late nights, and therefore stops at every stop in the 130 blocks to Harlem.
Peace, love and staying updated!

You know that tingly feeling in your stomach...

2008-06-16T18:47:00.018-07:00

Papa Massoudi once described the excitement he got from the release of Brawl, "You know that tingly feeling in your stomach, when you like a girl, and you just found out she likes you back?" I must admit, I judged him a little that day. But I couldn't relate more today, when I found myself beaming and practically skipping for joy at work.

What could possibly be analogous to a game that gives the guys so many voluntary sleepless nights? The beginning of a new project that will probably, also, give me many sleepless nights.

Today, I began writing a proposal for a new project, in an entirely new vein in research. Ah, I love these early stages of research- when you can have high aspirations and and wild fantasies of making ground-breaking discoveries. The butterflies in my stomach from placing a PO with Fisher are comparable to the flushed cheeks and Quyen-beam that comes from an amazing first date. The sense of validation I get from reviewing the literature and setting better, more advanced goals is equivalent to that feeling of just knowing there will be a second date. And getting your Post-Doc's approval, now thats like the first kiss, that seals the deal and lets you know amazing things are about to unfold.

This is all before the crippling realities of the project unfold, before you get sucked into the painful minutiae of the protocols that will keep you at work past sundown (you know, those little details about every guy that you don't find out until you're too invested to dump him over it). How difficult is basic fuchsin staining? Would it be better if I dehydrated my bone in 70% or 80% ethanol? For 3 or 4 hours? Is the 1-micron resolution on the confocal microscope worth the extra time in collecting projections?

Nevertheless, excited I am. After two weeks of doing mind-numbing cortical segmentation and feeling like the ultimate lab rat, I am finally doing some mentally stimulating work. I have always worked with bone on a macroscale, and for the first time now, I will be examining bone at a cellular level. Specifically, I will be quantifying the 3-D microstructure of lacunar canaliculi of osteocytes in cortical bone and seeing how fluid flow through these porosities translates into mechanosensory information. Yeah, its a mouthful. Don't worry, I just learned what lacunae and canaliculi were today, hopefully by August 18th I will know enough about it to submit to ORS 09, in Vegas, baby!

Thanks for bearing with me!

Coming of Age Weekend!

2008-06-16T16:19:00.005-07:00

Ah, 21. So much anticipation, so much build-up, and I must say this day (weekend, actually) lived up to its expectation and more. I don't have the energy for a detailed description, but I'll give a brief outline, and let you see the namesake album on Facebook.

Friday night: Went dress shopping with Jiasi back at Pier 17 and her friend Nikitha, ended up walking across the Brooklyn Bridge, which was beautiful. By the time we got back, it was midnight, so we went to La Negrita, I ordered my first drink. My first bar night was incredibly fun.

Thanks so much for all the phone calls, texts and hilarious voicemails everyone. It almost, almost made up for not having you guys around on this day.

Saturday morning was a bit painful, but I eventually overcame the hangover and went to Central Park for Vampire Weekend, where the line was literally a mile long (no, seriously). Unfortunately, a crazy thunderstorm broke out and DRENCHED us, cancelling the concert so we went on home.

As I was getting ready for Saturday night, I was feeling a twinge of sadness that this was my first birthday without a cake (a.k.a. the Terpine Mascarpone Rev promised me over a year ago), and just then I get an awesome surprise delivery of cookies and brownies right to my door, that was great!

Saturday night we did it classy, went to Dizzy's Club Coca Cola at the Lincoln Center for a Caribbean Jazz show by 21st Century Band. It was amazing, I seriously want to learn how to play the saxophone now. Dizzy's offers lots of great student discounts, so if you ever want to go to a jazz club, this is a great place to start.

Afterwards we went up north towards Columbia, hit an Irish pub there, then had munchies at Tom's Restaurant, which is the restaurant taped in Seinfeld! Finally made it to Columbia's campus, with the point being to see it at dark, but by that time, daylight was creeping up on us again. Finally I stumbled home at 5:30am on Sunday, my feet dead from a memorable but painful 10 hours in heels.

That wasn't as brief as I hoped, sorry, but this is also my personal diary, so I'm glad I got it all down.

Also, for all those who sent me (or have promised to send me!) mail, I haven't checked my mail yet, but thanks alot, I NEVER get exciting snail mail!

:-)

Musical Explorations

2008-06-12T19:32:00.016-07:00

Someone told me Houstin, Texas was the live music capital of the United States. Whoever decided this must never been to New York City. There is live music-correction, free live music- everywhere, so much so that I rarely use my iPod. From the borderline-homeless playing at Subway stations to the numerous summer concert series' throughout the city, there is music at every corner, catered to every taste. A live jazz band outside the Guggenheim. A man playing the Star-Spangled Banner on a saw (shown to the left) at Taste of Times Square.

I've never been big on music, and the only concert I've really attended (and sitting behind The Greek Theatre does NOT count) was Red Hot Chili Peppers in Oakland, but I'm really starting to appreciate live music. And its so much easier to do when its everywhere and its free.

So Tuesday we saw Gnarls Barkley play at the Apple Store in SoHo. They were promoting the release of their album (on iTunes, like Coldplay's Viva La Vida), The Odd Couple. They played a few lounging, jazzy songs which I liked but can't remember the name of. Then they butchered their one hit 'Crazy' with a slow, torturous remix and it was over.
On a side note, SoHo is a very trendy, fashion-aware neighborhood, and the one thing I noticed, is that wearing black-on-black (yes, yes, like the Storm of Justice) is very 'in'. At least half the women I saw were dressed in all-black on a 95-degrees day. Then Jiasi informed me that someone told her it was almost mandatory to wear black to attend a party in SoHo. Interesting.

Wednesday I went to see live Jazz at Pier 17, right around South Seaport. I must say, I am really liking jazz. It may be simply because it is played at every public gathering in this city, that I am beginning to associate it with a fun, carefree and exploratory mood. Either way, Pier 17 is an amazing place. I got my first glimpse of Brooklyn, Wall Street and Governor's Island-and was introduced to this concept of a New York City Water Taxi.

Most importantly, girls, listen closely. I found this awesome dress-boutique in the mall inside Pier 17, called The Stone Flower. Ever since I got here I have been looking for light, summery dresses that are wearable in this humid weather yet nice enough for a night out. This store has just that. The dresses are all hand-made by the owner, so they are unique (seriously, only 1 of each dress in the store) and cheap ($25-45). They have a great selection of day and evening dresses for every occasion. I spent an hour in this tiny 12'x12' shop and tried on about 10 dresses, finally settling to buy just 3. I plan on going back there again soon.

Finally, today was all about watching Kevin Robinson do the Red Bull Experiment and attempt to break the world record for highest jump on a BMX. Red Bull built a 60-foot launch ramp in Central Park and crowds gathered to watch. Being the Big Apple, there had to be live music at this event. A few no-name bands played, and then, much to my surprise and elation, Talib Kweli came on stage! For those who don't know, he is a political rapper who ranks in the top-five of my favorite lyricists alongside my all-time favorites Mos Def, Common and The Roots. I've spent years listening to rappers sing about their cities, and I totally forgot how many are New York natives. His unannounced appearance only increased my respect for this city in attracting the biggest names of every industry.
After all the music, 'K-Rob' did come out and do the deed. The previous record was 26'6'' above the ramp, and he managed to do 27' tonight. It was pretty amazing to watch how fast he was going at the bottom of the half-pipe. He did, unfortunately, fall during most of his landings, but bounced back every time.

Also, for you skaters out there, a few of Kevin's friends came and did some jumps off the half-pipe as well, and one was a skater, now his looked pretty damn amazing.

Now I have to make slides for tomorrow's lab meeting, so in the words of (some Pig on cartoon?):

That's all folks!

Thank you, E.B. White

2008-06-10T19:06:00.011-07:00

Today on the Subway, I saw a quote (as a part of Columbia University's new Train of Thought program, go Lions!) that made me, for once, appreciate being a visitor to this city:

“There are roughly three New Yorks. There is, first, the New York of the man or woman who was born here, who takes the city for granted and accepts its size and its turbulence as natural and inevitable. Second, there is the New York of the commuter — the city that is devoured by locusts each day and spat out each night. Third, there is the New York of the person who was born somewhere else and came to New York in quest of something. […] Commuters give the city its tidal restlessness; natives give it solidity and continuity; but the settlers give it passion.”
- E.B. White, Here is New York

This past week (oh my god, has it really only been a week?), I have fully embraced my tourist attributes. I walk around with a subway map at all times, pull out my camera at any large sign or New York icon, and am constantly asking "which way is __ st?" upon exiting the subway. I am new to this city and I love it. It gives me a great excuse for not knowing anything about it, and for that reason, I am not afraid to ask- and thus why I'm learning and exploring so much. To this day I don't feel comfortable in San Francisco. It's because I was raised near it, but never really explored it, so by the time I got to college, I got a lot of "You've never been there? But you live here!" This made me incredibly hesitant to ask questions about or explore San Francisco, even though I've been working there for two years now. Its sad, really, but I'm glad I have no such hindrance in New York.

Unfortunately natives of this city don't reciprocate the enthusiasm of visitors. At least so I've heard. I have received plenty of help from strangers, but who knows how many of them were secretly grumbling to their friends about annoying tourists after I left. Personally, if I lived in an internationally acclaimed city, I would consider myself honored every time I helped out a visitor. Don't these natives understand? The reasons visitors come is to get a bite of what the natives have-intimacy and familiarity with the city to the point where street signs are superfluous and restaurant recommendations are locally-known, 'hole-in-the-wall' places.

But now I realize how wrong visitors are to want that familiarity. We have our place in this three-fold population, we bring the passion. The natives create the culture, but don't have the enthusiasm and energy to appreciate it. That's where we come in. Yes, we want to see the skyline. Yes, we want to take a picture of every location we may have seen in a movie. Yes, we want to pose for a picture next to a sign saying 'Wall Street'. But the hope is, in our obnoxious Paparazzi-ing, we'll drag along the occasional native and allow them to take a step back and enjoy the livelihood they helped foster.

Stay classy San Francisco!

The Bad, the Ugly

2008-06-08T16:41:00.005-07:00

I've received a few requests (or shall I call them complaints) for unfiltered details, so here goes. You guys have all heard whats been amazing about New York, now you're going to get the nitty gritty, the bare essentials, on what sucks.

I have yet to see toilet seat covers in New York.

Last night on the street, this exchange occurred:
-guy on street: Do you know where the nearest liquor store is?
--me, while continuing walking: No.
-guy on street: You don't wanna drink? You don't wanna fuck? You don't wanna suck?

There are massive, and I kid you not, mounds of trash on the streets. This ranges from simple wrappers and bags on the streets to the 15-20 black garbage bags piled on the sidewalk perpetually waiting for pickup.

I keep seeing these blue trucks in Harlem with giant suctioning hoses labeled "#1 for picking up number 2"-one can only assume lack of plumbing.

Yesterday at Tompkins Square Park, we couldn't sit on a bench because there was 6-inch diameter, 3-inch high pile of dog shit covered in flies.

Those beautiful horse-drawn carriages going through Central Park, the horses shit as they go, and no one cleans it up.

My roommate rarely stays in her NY apartment because she has a house in New Jersey (with a pool!). And she never cooks (the refrigerator had only a water jug when I came in). Naturally she decides to do both on the hottest weekend possible, so the non-AC apartment is actually 10 degrees hotter than outside.

I always heard NY was a dirty city, and I used to think that was a simple matter of density- you simply can't be clean with that many people crowded into one city. But now I'm starting to believe its a matter of choice. Toilet seat covers, seriously?! And how hard is it to place garbage dumpsters on the street so as not to litter the sidewalks. And how simple to install posts with doggy litter-bags and signs encouraging people to clean up after their pets? I'm not saying these measures would have a significant effect, but the fact that the city hasn't done so shows they are at peace with their filth and unsanitary conditions.

Needless to say, I have more than overcome these drawbacks. I would have to, otherwise I couldn't enjoy all that this city has to offer. You asked for details, there it is.

Hot Child in the City

2008-06-07T19:27:00.014-07:00

Today I got my first taste of a New York summer. Ninety-four degrees, 60% humidity- what better to do than run around and play outdoor games in the city? This weekend is the Come Out and Play festival in New York. I'm not sure how to describe it, but its a non-profit organization that coordinates this annual festival in different cities each year. Games played are usually scavenger-hunt, hide-and-go-seek type games, but played in public spaces on large scale, and with total strangers. Its a recipe for madness, and incredible fun.

The games we got a chance to play were: Super Happy Fun City Bingo and Search Brigade, both taking place in Tompkins Square Park in the Lower East Side. In the first- we received a poster-board and a polaroid camera, and had 10 minutes to capture stills of as many bingo squares as we could. A few examples of the squares were: a Toyota (we never found one), a flying fish (the organizers put a Nemo doll in a tree), and a dance party (we created one with a stranger carrying a boom-box and two confused old tourists). It was insane running around the park in that mid-day heat, we were sweating profusely from start to finish, but it was totally worth it: we got 14 squares. Unfortunately some other team got 16, so we got 2nd place. Our prize? Dildo-resembling 'Bingo markers' of all colors.

The 2nd game, Search Brigade, was something I had never played before, but out of the group of ~20 people, 3 were made Brigadiers, aka searchers, and the rest were Fugitives. We were all given walkie-talkies (the fugitives and searchers were on different bandwiths) to coordinate cornerings. The Fugitives were to hide in the park, and every time one was caught by a Brigadier, they also became a Brigadier. I volunteered to be a searcher, which was really fun, because I'd much rather chase than be chased. And chase I did. I'm proud to say I caught 3 people on my own, plus an awesome 3-way assist catch between myself, Derek and another Brigadier. So the game comes to conclusion when only one fugitive is left, he/she must survive 5 minutes without getting caught, and they win. Our last man standing was actually very sly, inconspicuously lounging in the grass with the other park-goers. Derek spotted him, however, and this crazy chase began. Me and another Brigadier were hot on his tail, and had him cornered in a basketball court, but he scaled a NINE-FOOT fence in like 35 seconds and survived. Insane. Below is our Search Brigade crew, CW from top: Derek, Laura, Michelle, Jiasi (pronounced Jesse), and me.

The funny thing was that Jiasi was still an un-caught fugitive, but either her walkie-talkie died or she was out of range, because she never heard the end of the game and was sitting in her bush for a good 10 or 15 minutes after the game ended, sorry Jiasi. Needless to say, she didn't like this game very much.

Afterwards, tired, hot and sticky as can be from all the running and sweating, we decided it was food time. Where to? White Castle we decided. But first we blazed up and danced around with giant bags of weed, of course. A full meal under $5, the cost and taste of McDonald's, but I'm glad we knocked that off our list of places to eat.

I feel like Nick Gilder's song never applied more than today, to our entire group:
Hot child in the city
Runnin' wild and lookin' [sweaty],
So young to be loose and on [their] own,
When [they] go downtown, [they] walk like [they] just don't care, care
Hot child in the city

I love you New York!

OMG I totally forgot, I met Dwayne Johnson, aka The Rock!

My First Celebrity Sighting!

2008-06-05T21:22:00.010-07:00

Thanks to the amazing Google Reader, I was informed of Salman Rushdie coming to Barnes & Noble, Union Square to do a book reading and signing of his new book The Enchantress of Florence. For those who aren't aware, and are too lazy to click the link, Rushdie is a Muslim author famous (some would say notorious) for his controversial books on Islam and politics. I have only read one of his books, Shame, which I loved. I have always wanted to go back and read The Satanic Verses, for which he was exiled from Pakistan. His magic realism sends the reader on an acid trip while seamlessly blending history and fiction. His criticism of the runnings of the Pakistani, Indian and Iranian governments is so thinly-veiled in his novels, he needn't bother change names. Yet there is something in his blatant disregard of the consequences of his writing that draws the reader in, convincing them he has a secret to share. With this joy I begin his latest work, ready for the magical realism that will give me cryptic dreams for nights to come.

Oh, also included: Statue of Ghandhi at Union Square Park which struck me as oddly placed, and rendezvous with Goldman Boys continue, dinner at some delicious Mexican place near Mamoun's.

G'nite Cali!

Museum Mile Festival

2008-06-03T20:52:00.015-07:00

(9 Museums, 1 mile, 0 dollars)
A picture is worth a thousand words they say, I give you 6 grand:

The Guggenheim

Cathedral across from Rockefeller Center. My favorite NYC structural picture so far, really captures the magnificence of this cathedral in the midst of skyscrapers.
Rockefeller Center
How often do you see a giant blue M&M? Its stupid reasons like this I'm falling in love with this city.G'nite!

Ode to a Californian Kitchen

2008-06-02T19:32:00.000-07:00

It was inevitable, no matter how exciting New York could possibly be, I was going to miss Berkeley sooner or later. But it struck me in the oddest way.

I miss my kitchen. With its matching toaster and rice cooker. With its microwave stolen from a previous roommate. Crowded though its counter space may be, it is stocked full of non-stick pots and pans, complete knives and fork sets, an accessible and spacious sink. With multiple large coffee mugs for my morning chai.

On the other hand, I am finally feeling at home in this apartment. How do I know? I cooked breakfast in my underwear t, a surefire sign.

I also started work today. Not going to lie, not that exciting. The lab is a single room, no windows. About 15 people in my lab, ALL asian (as in all from china, taiwan, hong kong). Definitely a step down from UCSF. Coming from a large lab with seemingly endless resources to Columbia's 1-room Bone Bioengineering Lab, I feel like a silver-spoon fed child dropped in the middle of a dairy farm and asked to manage. I was like "oh, I don't know how to back-up data, we have special techs do that for us" (Never appreciated Andy, Bryan and Ayako more). But I am sure the city will more than compensate.

Finally, I went to the Taste of Times Square with the Goldman Squad* today. Three blocks on W46th shut down and 50 of the most popular restaurants around Times Square gives samples of their food for $3-5. I tried Buffalo Alligator, which is essentially buffalo wings, made with alligator. Tastes like chicken, but more moist, I'd suggest it. Also some delicious bread pudding, also shown below.So I'm obviously still having issues with picture placement on this site. At least I figured out I can shrink my images on ImageJ (thanks Kate for downloading that to my computer for 115) so its faster uploads since no one needs to see my face in 2560x1980 dimensions.

Tired as hell, good night kids!

*Copyright Ravi Dharawat, referring to ~10 Cal EECS students working at Goldman Sachs this summer.

Hello Harlem

2008-06-01T20:39:00.000-07:00

It comes as no surprise that I was a sheltered as a child. As a matter of fact, I first heard of Harlem through the infamous 'Harlem Shake' in high school. Any mention of this neighborhood since then always came with negative connotations. Poverty. High crime rate. Much did I know one day I would call this place home.

However, when walking through Harlem, the poverty and crime weren't the first things I noticed. I saw a tightly-knit community with exceptional pride in their heritage and the accomplishments of their people. This was evident in signs everywhere: Sojourner Truth School, Malcolm X Avenue, Marcus Garvey Park. Sitting out on the steps weren't gun-bearing drug-dealers, but family elders sharing stories of the past with passersby and carefree, playing children. Not once, but three times I was offered help in opening a door or carrying luggage by such strangers. Not to glaze over the persistent smell of urine and inordinate amount of (hopefully) animal feces on the sidewalks, Harlem definitely reeks renovation, but there is culture to compensate.

My first real Harlem experience was the Mafrika Music Festival in Marcus Gravey Park. It was amazing. I am not really a fan of reggae, but hearing it live, in this cozy, multi-level park in the middle of the city was unlike anything I imagined. My favorite group was Brown Rice Family, whose songs 'Take Me Away', 'I Feel Like Dancing' were the best.

After that, I went to check out Columbia, nothing exciting there, except that I'm pretty sure my lab has no windows, definitely a step down from UCSF.

Finally I decided to brave the subway and head downtown. I stopped at Times Square for a grand ten minutes, long enough to see the huge flashy signs, the hordes of people (now this is how I imagined NY to be), then hopped back on subway to (further) downtown to meet up with Ravi. Got off at W 4th st and 6th Avenue, GREAT places for food here! Walked around, ate at this delicious hole-in-the-wall falafel place in Greenwich Village. Our appetites satisfied, we decided to go in pursuit of this tall building with blue lighting at the top where we kept seeing flashes, so we assumed people were up there, taking pictures. Turns out the building was much further than we imagined, about 30 or so blocks, but when we got there, we discovered it was the Empire State Building, aka tallest building in NYC post-911. So we paid the $19 and went up! AWESOME views!
Now its 1am and I have my first day of work tomorrow, good night!

Adieu California

2008-05-30T14:14:00.000-07:00

Over the years, I have become increasingly sentimental, and as many of you can attest to, easily attached to inanimate objects of seemingly little material worth. I used to hate this, and be angry with myself for 'going soft,' but I realized why this trend began around college: I am finally having experiences worth remembering in my life, and often these emotions are better expressed in a ribosome-shaped balloon than in a 2-D picture which would portray four empty faces sitting on a couch. Don't take me wrong, I am quite the Paparazzi and love the power of pictures in recalling old memories, but there are more accurate, more personal ways of recording one's experiences.

Which brings me to this summer. In my mind, this will be a summer of new experiences, new sights, new insights- overall broadening my horizons. I hunted and pursued Columbia for months for this opportunity. Why? I have never lived outside of California, and even though my desire diminished after getting rejected by MIT, the lure of the east coast never died, and I was furtively and guiltily eyeing it the entire time I've been at Cal. I've never been far enough away from home to actually feel alone and independent, and this is my chance. I feel like its my first time facing the world on my own. If I like it, great, I can always go back. If I despise it, better yet, I'll be back in a few months, and I'll never regret not trying.

My reasons listed, this blog is partially a personal diary so that I can remember how this summer was for me, and partially just a way to keep my friends updated since I won't remember every story of 2.5 months in August.
I'm flying out tomorrow, so I figured I should list what I think this summer will/won't be, and see how much of it actually happens.

Some fears:

-being alone
-drifting from my loved ones in CA
-murder/rape (after all, I am living in Harlem)
-hating my living situation

On a much brighter note, here's what I'm really excited about:

-turning 21 in NYC! (I've recently learned their bars are open till 4am, Kiran shall sleep at 10pm no more!)
-sampling NYC culture (museums, art shows, happy hours, even some music, maybe a running/biking event)
-starting over again, meeting new people, making new friends, changing up the routine
-summer of fitness! (running, biking, maybe try swimming again?)
-oh yeah, working at Columbia, a new vein in research
-and did i mention its NYC!!

With all that out of the way, farewell California, I leave you with DeVotchka...

We have given our bodies to the [New York] army,

But my heart and soul belong to you my love.

So let the [Harlem] guns cut me to ribbons,
For my eternal soul will know the way back home.