Happy New Year!!

 

January 1st, 2012 - 12:15am

Central Park East Theater 

Happy New Year to all!  This year to celebrate the New Year Brian and I had over some good friends of ours and made some good food together.  There was a concert in Central Park that started at 10pm along with fireworks at midnight and a 4 mile run hosted by the New York Road Runners Club.  It was a fantastic atmosphere with lots of people dancing and 6,000 people ran.  Both of us would love to do the run next year - such a good New Year's idea.  We brought Sofie along with us, though when it got close to midnight it became so crowded that we had to pick her up so she wouldn't get stepped on.  She was loving all the attention she got from people there and, surprisingly enough didn't get wacked out by all the loud music.  Even when the fireworks started she was good - just sat down at our feet.  

At midnight we popped a bottle of champagne to toast the New Year.  It was a great end to a wonderful holiday season.  My New Year's resolution was for Brian to teach me how to play the drums so now I'm off to lesson #2.  Yesterday we had lesson #1.  Maybe someday I'll be a famous chick drummer rockstar :) 

Have a wonderful day! 

Christmas Past

Well, Christmas is over and it's back to the grind. I hope everyone had a happy and safe holiday!

Today I decided to post a picture of Sofie chewing on her new Santa toy. She kept running up to me this morning while I was getting ready and making a little whining sound, obviously wanting me to engage in a game of tug. I tried to appease her as much as I could until I had to leave for work. I'd never heard her whine so much for a game. This reminded me of the funny ways in which Sofie exhibits human like behavior. Maybe we evolved from dogs? Jen? Just kiddingggg.

Have a great day!

Happy Friday!

December 23, 2011 - 6:24am - Central Park East

This morning was very dark and dreary at the park as you can see from my photo. It was also quite uneventful as I ran into very few people and Sofie was mild in her antics. Consequently, I decided to post some cute old pictures of me with my star dogs.

Have a great day!

Good Morning!

Thursday, December 22nd, 2011  - 6:30am - Central Park East

Jen is off to Oregon and I'm taking over the Blog for the next few days. Sofie and I were sad to see her go this morning at 3:30am, but we have many fun things planned.

This morning Sofie scared the hell out of me! Immediately after entering The Park, she was trolling through the brush searching for birdies and emerged with a mouse looking creature in her mouth. I tried to get her to drop this foreign object, but it became increasingly clear that she was trying to and could not get it out of her mouth. Tilting her head and running back and forth like a crazed maniac, I thought she had caught a mouse and the mouse had latched onto her tongue (These are the strange things I think about). I finally caught up with her and found that she had a small mouse shaped pine cone stuck on her tooth and was awkwardly trying to lick around at it. It's safe to say I felt like an idiot. This is one silly dog!

Have a great day!

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!!