Wednesday, December 21st, 2011
In front of the Ralph Lauren Store (Madison & 71st), 8:45am

Hello hello!  Sorry I'm a bit late today.  I both woke up a little late (7:45am) and took an extra long walk (several loops around the great lawn as opposed to just 1) because I don't have to go in to work today and it's my last day to walk with my little Sofie before I go to OR.  As you can see, Sofie got a stick today and carried it home with her.  It's always hard to take it from her when we get back to the place, but if I let her bring it in to the apartment she just tries to tear it up into a million pieces and it makes a big mess. 

Aside from that I had an absolutely amazing birthday yesterday.  The day was fairly normal - a bit disappointing perhaps because all I did all day was work on my Biochem proposal.  Not the most exciting birthday, so when I got home, Brian cooked me this delicious dinner of cavatelli & broccoli with lots of garlic and parmesan.  It was really, really good.  Then we went and got a cab but I had no idea where we were going.  We ended up at the Blue Note in the West Village, which if you don't know it, is probably one of the most famous jazz clubs in the world. 
http://www.bluenote.net/newyork/index.shtml

And we get in, and it's PACKED with people eating dinner and drinking.  And I still don't know what we're seeing so when the host tells us he can't seat us together that we have to go join OTHER people's dinner tables, I was kind of like...well maybe we should just go get dessert.  It was awkward to join other people's tables - trust me.  So then Brian was like...no no, we can't leave.  Then he told them it was my birthday and they found us 2 seats together with 4 other people at the table. 

Then Chris Botti came on. 

.....I'm waiting for the wow factor.  Nobody shot down my wow factor more than my mother, who when I told about this night said..."Who's that?  Is he a basketball player?" 

"Yes Mother, I went to a famous jazz club to see a basketball player.  One that you have seen on TV several times in fact."  (She has no memory of this of course). 

Anyway - I can't describe it to you - you would have had to be there but it was the most incredible music I've ever heard.  It was one of the most amazing things I've ever heard. 

That's all for now.  I leave tomorrow at 6:30am to go to OR.  I think Brian may be guest blogging for me, but I'm not sure.  We shall see. 

Either way, have a wonderful day! 

Here's your X-mas cheer for the day:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7A03tpV-70k&feature=related

Tuesday December 20th, 2011
Central Park East - 7:35am

Aside from being the first day of Hanukkah, it is also a great day b/c it is my 25th birthday!  The first 25 years have been pretty awesome so I'm hoping the same for the next 25.  It's weird to think that after another 25 years I'll be 50.  It seemed like these 25 went by pretty fast!  Sofie and I were lucky enough to have Brian along on the walk with us this morning.  :) Apparently there is something special planned for tonight such that I must devote my entire evening to going wherever this is and seeing whatever it me be!  Very exciting. 

Also exciting is that in 2 days I'll be in OR with my family! 

Have a wonderful day! 

Here's your daily dose of holiday spirit:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GPG3zSgm_Qo&feature=related

Last day of being 24

 Working on STAY.  Pretty good, eh?

Monday, December 19th, 2011
Central Park East - 8:00am

Good morning, good morning!  I almost forgot to post today b/c I am all wrapped up in working on this biochemistry test.  I have to write a proposal based on a paper about an innate immune sensor of viral RNA called RIG-I (Retinoic acid inducible gene-I).   When RIG-I senses that your cells are infected with a virus, it signals to your nucleus to stop allowing protein translation, which is the way that all your proteins get made.  Now why would your cell want to halt protein translation when you're infected with a virus?

........are you thinking? 


........b/c the cell will sacrifice itself for the organism by not allowing the virus to hijak YOUR cell's protein translation machinery to make proteins for itself that it will then use to go and infect more of your cells. 

The name doesn't really have anything to do with what it actually does but some side-effect of how it was found.  Typical science.  Let's think rationally but give nothing a rational name.  AND let's NEVER change names....EVER.  In any event, I'm eating an egg sandwich - I like to make myself good breakfasts when I'm working a lot. 

There's your science lesson for the morning.  Have a wonderful day!

Here's your holiday special: 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yXQViqx6GMY

Lovin' me some Mariah Carey!!

HAPPY FRIDAY!!

Friday, December 16th, 2011
Central Park - The Great Lawn - 7:35am

Good morning!  We were fortunate enough to have another beautiful day in the park.  Yesterday it was a bit gray so the sky wasn't quite as pretty.  This morning was another story, though.  As I said before, this is why I get up early! 

This morning was extra great because Brian got up and came along on our walk.  He got to meet all the dogs that Sofie greets & plays with every morning. 

Here's your day 3 X-mas spirit clip:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Pu-bVrndgY

Have a wonderful day!

Thursday, December 15th, 2011
Central Park East - 7:05am

Have a wonderful day!! 

Here's your Day 2 Christmas clip:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nzXKWKaxt3c&feature=related

Wednesday, December 14th, 2011
 Central Park East, 7:15am

I always have this conundrum when my alarm goes off in the morning.  The problem is, I have time to get to work before 9 (not that that matters to anyone but me - Gregoire doesn't care) if I start my walk at 7 or 7:15 instead of 6:30.   That is, I don't have to be up at 6:20 - it's excessively early if my goal is just getting to work around 8:45 or so.   Every morning at 6:20, my alarm goes off and I think "Oh God no.  It can't possibly be 6:20 already.  It's so dark.  There must be some mistake.  I feel so tired - must. go. back. to sleep."  Then I reach for my phone to turn the alarm off - it's 6:20 - time to get up.  Then I face the evil me trying to keep me from getting up.  "You're so tired - you've been working so hard!  Just go back to sleep!" Some mornings I do - but most mornings I don't.

You might not think this is a big deal since I get to work on time either way.  But whether I get up at 6:20 versus 7:10 changes my entire day.  The thing that gets me out of bed is that I like to be in the 6:20 club.  I like to go outside when it is still dark out.  I like seeing the construction guys wandering around with their coffee, joking around with each other.  I like to see the moon still out.  I like it being quieter and well....different from the daytime.  It feels special to be out while it's still dark.  Most of all, I like that when I get to Central Park and turn around to face the rest of the East Side, the sun is rising.  The fact that I'm going to miss the sunrise if I don't drag my lazy bones out of bed is the main reason I get up at 6:20 instead of 7:10.  If you get up at 7:10, it's just the 7:10 club that's out.  The 7:10 club isn't the same.

I think it reminds me of when I was a kid.  My Dad always did special stuff with Sarah and I early in the morning.  He would come into our rooms when it was still dark and whisper that we had to get up because we had things to go do.  Sometimes we would just go early for pancakes at Elmer's or Fat City out in Oregon.  Also sometimes we would go fishing at Lake Codoris.  Those mornings we would get up really early and then go to McDonald's and get a hash brown on the way there.  We'd see the sunrise on the drive and then get there in time to go catch some sunnies.  We also used to get up really early to go to basketball tournaments.  When I got up early with Mom it was to go to the barn early in the morning when we had Roger.  Or just in the past year or so Mom and I were out in Bend turning off the alarms early to pull long underwear on, get our instant coffee and go skiing all day.  It's funny, when I wake up early I whisper to Sofie just like my Mom & Dad did to Sarah and I,  "Are you ready to go have adventures in the Park? I know it's going to be so fun today!  Maybe it will snow!" (I know I'm crazy - my dog sits in as a surrogate child since I'm a graduate student and will be old by the time I can have children).

Either way, the point is that if you think about it, you only get up really early in the morning because you have so many fun things to do with the day that they won't all fit unless you expand your day with a few extra hours tacked at the beginning.  I think that's why getting up early feels special - it brings you back to all those mornings you got a rush of adrenaline when the 5am alarm went off and you knew you got to go do something really fun.


Now I'm going to post something every day to get you in the holiday spirit!  Here's day 1!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jyCfRHumHU

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DAD!!

Tuesday, December 13th, 2011
Central Park East - 7:35am

^We both like playing in the leaves :)  Beautiful clear, sunny, cold day in the Park this morning. 

Happy Birthday to my Dad - I only know the general vicinity of how old he is. 

I'm going to the Nutcracker tonight (NYC ballet company) and I'm really excited because it isn't Christmas without the Nutcracker.  This morning I told Brian to get ready for Sugarplum fairies tonight so I'm sure he's psyched, too. 

Have a wonderful day!