bitter magnet

just thought i had to write something in here about the weather being great today. it's sunny and 57 degrees at the moment! :-)

to recap yesterday-michael & i carved some pumpkins with the 8th floor peeps-it was really fun! Michael managed to carve a really complicated-looking skull head on a pumpkin i got from the apple-picking trip several weeks ago. mine turned ok, it ended up having a funny-looking face.

after that for dinner we made turkey burgers, with the meat that i bought at harvest. they turned out very well--michael kept exclaiming "they're so good!!" and so after he ate one he ate half another! so hopefully now that i've shown michael how to make them then he can make them on his own and eat them continuously. lol

anyways, re: today, not much to say. it was warm, cloudy, and bit rainy. i biked to work, and i was lucky it didn't rain too hard then. :) i'm so glad i have a bike, i now realize. it's so convenient!

also, i think i've decided to run another half-marathon, on Jan 1st . It happens to be in Healdsburg, which is just a few miles north of Santa Rosa! I'm so glad because i thought i would have to give up running long distances for a while, since the weather is going to be unbearable for a few months. however since i'll be going home for 3 weeks (late December & early January) then i'll be able to train with no problem over there (typical weather will be in the 40-50s..)

btw-this LAMP thing is pretty cool. im listening to some songs by Selena now, it's so great. hurray for technology!

today was a good day. first of all i woke up late and then made breakfast, which consisted of basically eating random odds and ends that required little or no preparation (bacon, pumpkin seeds, almonds,and a cheese stick). and i think i also had some whole-milk yogurt with some peaches and peanut-butter cereal. however i did take the time to bake orange-cranberry-banana muffins (mostly with garbanzo bean flour) and i ate one with rice-butter & almond butter--turned out very well!! hurray, now i have 5 left to have some time this coming week.

anyway, around 11am i went running, trying out my new CamelBak that i got from REI. it was cool except that since it was new the water tasted really plasticky. oh well--it served its purpose nonetheless. i ran 0.7 miles to Ashdown, and then mischa and i ran 3.77 miles (science-harvard). then mischa felt cold (it was barely 60s, quite windy) we went back to get his windbreaker, and then continued running. i jogged for another ~5.7 miles (harvard-weeks footbridge, then to harvest in central square). so overall i ran a little over 10 miles. i didn't time it this time, since we stopped so many times (to take pictures-the leaves are so pretty!). again it was a lot easier this time, but probably cuz we had so many breaks in between. :)

before i forget-just wanted to say how Gerber's "Tender Harvest" brand of baby food *rocks.* :) I just had a serving of Butternut Squash & Corn, and it was de-licious! all i had to do was add some cinnamon and ground cloves (which i add to everything) and nuke it for 30 seconds! Mm-mm! The other ones that are really good are apple & blueberries (esp after being chilled) and apple & sweet potato. those make excellent desserts. and no, i don't care if anyone thinks i'm a nutcase for eating baby food. :)

well today's a nice day. this morning i went to the gsc 50th anniversary breakfast, in s-p. it was great, basically everyone sat at different tables and was supposed to discuss the issues that were written on the card. ours was transportation. and what do i have to say about that? well, i think that it's about time that a daytime shuttle starts running to SP--its going to get really cold!! :-)

they had eggs, sausage, and about 5 different kinds of quiche! the ham & cheese one was really good (i just ate the filling, not the crust) then later michael & i went to the oktoberfest celebration in the student center--the food there was really great: ginger pork, sauerkraut, red cabbage & apples, german potato salad, and sausages. again it was cool because there was plenty of stuff that i was able to eat (usually free-food events feature only things like pizza, noodles, wraps, little sandwiches, or hamburgers/hotdogs, all of which i can't eat). hurray to whoever ordered the food! :-)

oh, and by the way -today i bought my plane ticket home (for Christmas break) on hotwire. I was looking at a bunch of different dates and by far the cheapest one was leaving Tues Dec 16 and returning Tues Jan 6. I tried ones that left a bit later (17th or 18th) and returned earlier (Jan 4th or 5th), and they were all around $280-$320. So, i can say i was forced into taking a 3-week vacation to save money. :) sounds good to me!

anyway, i must mention something about yesterday. at 7pm michael and i went to see this movie, "Lilya Forever" at the LSC. Ok, let me just say that it is the absolute most depressing movie i have ever viewed in my entire life. i don't want to spoil the movie for anyone, but essentially it was about a 16-year-old Russian girl (Lilya) whose mother abandons her, leaving her to live a life of poverty, resorting to selling herself (i.e. prostitution) to survive. anyway, several scenes (actually most of them) were difficult to watch. i imagine it was even more disturbing for michael since the movie was in Russian (his native tongue).

well after that movie was finished, we biked home and then a few hours later (midnight) decided to go the SP gym to work out (we were trying to clear our minds, after seeing the movie). i ran 5 miles, in 43 minutes (yay).

well i'm in a pissing mood. ;-) this morning i tried several times to get the $1 advance tix for the blink182 concert (at avalon) off of mtv.com. supposedly they were going to go on sale at 10am, but the link to the boston one wasn't there. after a while they said that at 4pm the boston site would be up...but i tried at 4 and at 4:10 and still no go. however at 4:30 joyce and i tried to get the site and after several tries we finally got through..to find out it was sold out! argh! apparently we can still get tickets at the orpheum tomorrow at 10am, but i won't be able to (i have class from 10-11). argh again.

also, i don't really care for the weather at the moment (what's new?). the thing is, it 's not that bad now..the sad part is knowing that it's just going to get colder..the realization that for the next 5 months or so it's going to be as cold or even colder than it is now. yep, it's now time to stash away all the shorts, tank tops, short-sleeve shirts and dig out all the hats, gloves, mittens, scarves, etc. eek.

oh, and more bad news: my umbrella (the cool, clear one that i bought at target just a month or two ago) has started to tear in some places. i know i could probably take it back and get a refund, but that's not what i want..i like the umbrella itself, it's pretty cool-looking and everything. :(

anyway, the good news today: i got into the pilates class i wanted. yay. its tues & thurs from 12-1pm. i'm glad since i actually spent $24 on a pilates/yoga mat a few months ago, and to this day i've used it exactly once. ;-) i guess i gave up on trying to learn the techniques from ripped mpeg files of pilates videos. i guess i just won't get anywhere without an actual structured program. anyway, i'm excited..classes start next week.

ok so i finally worked out at the gym yesterday, around 11pm. did 4.5 miles total (elliptical trainer + treadmill), plus a bit of stretching/weight lifting. maybe could have done more but it got too boring. plus michael was waiting for me. :) he brought me flowers! he is the best!! :)

oh, and today i got one of those mini cheesecakes (from laverde's). i mainly bought it because it said it was gluten-free (didn't have a crust) and also it didn't have any weird ingredients (no hydrogenated oils, MSG, or anything like that). plus i love cheesecake! :) anyway i had it after lunch today, and it was a bit disappointing. the main thing was that it didn't have the consistency of cheesecake (was soft), so it was more like cheesecake pudding. also, it was too sweet for me. i guess i should have expected that, knowing that i usually think 99.99% of commercially-made desserts are too sweet. oh well. next time for lunch i will eat a Zone bar for dessert (i've never had one, but i like the sound of "double-chocolate," so i bought one along with the cheesecake) :D )

btw-in japanese class today we got our scores for the interview test on tuesday--i got a 10! :) we also got our lesson quiz 3 back..i did well, but i missed a few points since for some reason i said "asatte" was tomorrow (i know it's the day after tomorrow, but for some reason i got mixed up). also, i didn't realize that you could say "zenbu desita" ("it was the whole thing/all of it"). point taken! :)

oh and a note-this morning around 8 am, it was snowing! since it was around 40 F it didn't stick, but it still amazed me how it's not even friggin' halloween yet and it's snowing already!

my doctor from mit medical just called, informing me the results of my blood test (last friday i had a few tests done to see if i had antibodies against gluten, to check if i had celiac disease). well get this--apparently one of the tests was abnormal, so i'm going to have this test ( upper GI exam) done, where you drink this barium solution and they x-ray your small intestines. and no, this is not the one where something is stuck up your bum (thank god). ;-)

anyway, this may sound strange but i actually feel quite hopeful and encouraged after learning this, because it seems like maybe i've finally found the reason for all my tummy troubles (i.e. all my pain and suffering for the past year(s)). i know that Rima's test in late August said i was allergic to wheat, rye, barley, oats (basically gluten in general) but a lot of people don't seem to believe in electro-dermal testing, saying it's not scientific or something like that. also some say that way too many people think they're allergic to wheat when really it's just all in their head. whatever. rima's diagnosis said i was allergic to wheat, i strictly stopped eating it, and i felt better. if i eat wheat, i get sick. what more do i need to know? :) i guess if i have a medical exam showing that i have an intolerance to gluten then it will be sort of iron-clad proof that my system just can't deal with wheat (and i don't have to feel bad about asking caterers/dinner organizers to provide special food for me. :) ) anyway, it would be good to know. i'm eager to find out.

ok once again it freezing inside my office here. thank god we can use our portable heater now (someone had stolen our extension cord earlier, so we had to get a new one). the reason we need an extension cord is cuz we need to use the outlet out in the hall (if we use an outlet in our office it will cause a blackout, since we're running at max power with my fridge and all).

anyways, this happens every winter--since there is one thermostat control for 3 or 4 offices, our office gets freezing cold (since its in the corner, i guess) while the other offices become saunas. oh well. i'm glad that at least the apartments in s-p have individual temp control...can always make sure it's nice & toasty inside. :) when i was in tang i had the same problem as in my office, and even with my portable heater it didn't help. :(

ack, well regardless, i hope we're in for a warm winter this time around. last year was enough. :)

ok i finally started making the slides for my iedm presentation a few hours ago. basically a lot of cutting & pasting, and making figures in powerpoint. but i like how it's coming a long so far. we have to stick of a template that consists of using a blue background and Arial font. hmm..i like these people. :)

oh and i ended up not running today..it was too dark by the time i had the energy to go. :( a shame since the weather was actually good. oh well. i did 45 min of biking yesterday, so i guess i deserve a rest. tomorrow i'll have to get my ass in gear though.

my day so far has been pretty good. i had my japanese interview test, seem to go alright. japanese is the coolest language.. i can't wait to learn more of it!

and the weather is really strange today. this morning it was quite warm (60s) and cloudy, and now the sun is coming out. this is after they said it was supposed to rain all day. whatever. hopefully it will stay the way it is now for a bit, since i am supposed to run 5 miles today, and i really don't want to end up doing it in the gym (i don't care what's on tv, the treadmill is *boring as hell*).

ok i just ordered about $130 worth of merchandise from rei-outlet.com i used a 15% off coupon, and essentially everything i got was 50% off or more. i got a camelbak for $17 (i got one for michael too), and hiking shoes for $33. i got a bunch of stuff for my bike and some exercise clothes as well. oh, and the main reason i went to rei-to get decent pair of gloves! after lengthy consultation with michael (since he's canadian he's an expert on cold-weather gear) i decided to get these marmot cross-trainer gloves for $30. yeah i know that's a lot to pay for gloves, but 1) orig price was $59 and 2) marmot is supposedly a good brand and 3) if they do their job and stop my fingers from getting frost bitten then it's worth it.

so yay, i get to expect another package in the mail. :) i won't get it until halloween or so (shipping will take a while) but whatever. no hurry.

i just biked to whole foods, since i needed a few things from there (i.e. decent fruit, salad dressings, and organic items). anyway, it was great since a lot of stuff was on sale (like my fave organic whole-milk yogurt) and strawberries. but the best part was that there was this new item there, *gluten-free chicken tenders!!* yep, they are "breaded" with rice flour, and on top of that they're shaped like little dinosaurs (never too old for some things, you know). :) anyways, i had to buy it, since i miss eating chicken mcnuggets... i didn't even know a wheat-free substitute existed!

dude, i'm so excited about all these gluten-free and wheat-free things they are coming out with. i think the best one must have been that gluten-free pizza that michael and i made a few weeks ago (we used dough made of rice-flour & tapioca starch, available in the "natural" frozen section at star market). i expected it to turn out slightly weird, but it turned out amazing--to be quite honest, i think it turned out better than most regular pizza i've eaten (and michael agreed)! also, the gluten-free pasta (made out of quinoa and corn, bought at whole foods) was really good too, excellent with organic gluten-free alfredo sauce i made. anyway, who says you can't live without wheat?? :)

today was freezing (ok, not literally, it was low 40s) but it felt like it anyway. the thing is i ran 10 miles this afternoon (yep, Longfellow-Eliot, and then some) and it took me 115 minutes so i was out there for a while. actually, it wasn't *that* cold (i had a sweatshirt but took it off after 1st mile) but since it was rainy as well (almost like the day of the race) that sort of took a toll towards the end. i wore gloves, but they were these $6 fleece things from old navy that just let the wind & water right through, so i don't think they helped much. they were ok for a while but after about the 8th mile my fingers started to seriously hurt (were essentially numb at the end).

that aside though, although my time was slightly longer time than last 10-mile run (113 minutes, 2 weeks ago), it felt much easier this time, and at the end i didn't feel nearly as tired. yay, progress. :) probably cuz i had already done 13 miles so 10 miles would be comparatively easier. also i had fun watching everyone at the head of the charles race.

anyway, since it's surely going to get colder and i want to keep running in the next few months (a wishful thought?) then i need to get decent gloves. maybe REI? i have a 15% coupon. :)

around 10:30 today mischa and i went to kendall square for the MIT Press sale (started at 10am). when we got there, there was already a huge line (ran all the away outside). luckily jinhua (who was 5 or 6 ppl ahead) was nice enough to let us cut in. but we still ended up waiting about 20 minutes though. i was quite surprised, as i didn't think an mit book sale would draw that many people. i was even more surprised when i got to the loading dock (where all the books were)--imagine 50 people crowded over stacks of books trying to find their way around!

anyway, what shocked me even more is how many books some folks were buying. as we were waiting in line, people who were leaving were carrying bags that must have had at least 5-10 books in there (some folks had boxes). when we got to the loading dock some people had boxes of books, often multiple copies of the same book. i noticed a few folks using their cell phones or PDAs in there, and we found out that was to look up the retail value of some of the books on amazon.com or on ebay. apparantly some of the books in there (esp. the hardcover texts) were quite valuable and thus it would be quite profitable if you could sell something for $50 that you paid less than $10 for (everything in there was either 3, 5, 7, or 10 dollars). at first we were like, "oh, that's soo bad/dishonest..." but then after a split second we were like, "actually, why the f__ don't *we* do that as well??" :) later we realized that we were fools for not doing the same... so for next time we have a plan: one of us will go in there (with a cell phone), while the other will wait at home (or somewhere with a wireless connection) to look up the selling prices of the texts there online. then after one of us amasses a ridiculous number of these valuable books the person at home will drive a zipcar over there to pick everything up. and then voila, we're in the money. :)

later on, after the booksale and after lunch michael & i decided to bike to the cambridgeside galleria, since we wanted to return a few things (my j.crew pants, which were too big, and michael's cheap sunglasses that fell apart weeks ago). we went to best buy first, where they were selling a limited edtion dvd for the matrix revisted for $14.99. michael bought one (but returned it later). and then we went to the gap (my fave) since we had this coupon for 15% of sale items. i bought these khaki colored bootcut jeans for only $9.97 (before discount!) , this nice lavender top, and some khakis that were on sale. michael got some sweaters and some nice looking pants as well. we spent a lot of money, but it was well-worth it and plus we saved a lot. :)

oh, and we went to return michael's sunglasses (since a few screws & nuts were missing, they had fallen apart) and the lady there was nice enough to repair them for free! she suggest though that we get a case for them cuz otherwise they're just going to fall apart again. it would be great if they weren't so flimsy, but what do you expect for $12? :)

i'm so glad to get the day off today (columbus day). and i'm glad yesterday we got to celebrate Canadian Thanksgiving @ the Hamptons (associate housemasters of SP, who also happen to be Canadian). anyway, it was the best food i had eaten in a while! the main meal (turkey, butternut squash, mashed potatoes, etc). was actually catered by Passport, a restaurant inside SP, so i i'll have to make sure to eat there more often. :)

and for dessert brenda had made Nanaimo bars, which has got to be the richest dessert i have ever tasted (they have 3 layers: one with chocolate, nuts, coconut, and graham cracker pieces, then a custard/creamy layer, and finally a chocolate layer on the top). well, it tasted better than it sounds, if that's hard to believe...it was amazing--a 10 out of 10! michael was amazed too...he even got one to take home. we both agreed that we should not find out the recipe since otherwise we would be making them (and eating them) year-round and thus would likely become porkers pretty quickly (lol). so i think it's fine that i only enjoy them once a year for thanksgiving, especially after running 13 miles the same day. :)

anyway, it was a great dinner, it was really interesting to see how many canadians are at SP, and how interesting and different the canadian culture is. yep, in many ways i was an ignorant american who thought that canada was just an extension of the US (oo, did i just admit to that? sorry michael..;-D) but i'm slowly learning to overcome my ignorant beliefs and recognize canada as an independent nation, with its many quirks and eccentricities (i.e. there's a town in Saskatchewan called "Regina," that has an unfortunate pronunciation, and they have these government leaders called MPs that regularly call Americans bastards). i have to admit though, they have really good food and desserts there, they seem to have a decent health care system going on, they are not plagued as much by poverty and violent crime, and in general canadians are super-nice people (much nicer than americans). i still refuse to say "aboot" and "zed," though, blue is still my favORite colOR, and "borrow" is pronounced "BAHR-oh," dammit. :)

this morning I ran the Boston Half-Marathon (13.1 miles)! yeah it was raining and it was in the low 50s, but that actually was the most perfect weather, just as i had hoped (i hate running in the sun-i get scorched and dehydrated) anyway, i'm still amazed that i actually finished it, i ran it in 2 hours and 23 minutes (just under 11 minutes/mile- 10:58 to be exact). michael was there to watch me cross the finish line and provide moral support (isn't he the best?). he took a few pictures, but unfortunately since it was misty/raining i think some water got on the camera lens so a lot of the pictures after the race came out blurry. oh well.

anyway, more information about the race can be found on the race website. If you go to the pictures, i am on page 85 (really bad picture..view at your own risk) :) anyways now i'm more motivated than ever to continue this running thing. i know you're probably thinking, 11 minutes/mile is crappy timing, and it is, but u have to start somewhere.