Sunday, December 26, 2004
have dessert first!
Always have dessert first, says the pessimist,
because you never know if you will live through the meal.
Always have dessert first, says the optimist,
as an act of faith that the meal will follow.
Always have dessert first, says the hedonist,
because pleasure is a cardinal point on the compass of life.
Always have dessert first, says the puritan,
as a prayer of thanks for the good things in life.
Always have dessert first, says the child,
because it's the most fun.
-Stephen Foehr
because you never know if you will live through the meal.
Always have dessert first, says the optimist,
as an act of faith that the meal will follow.
Always have dessert first, says the hedonist,
because pleasure is a cardinal point on the compass of life.
Always have dessert first, says the puritan,
as a prayer of thanks for the good things in life.
Always have dessert first, says the child,
because it's the most fun.
-Stephen Foehr
Saturday, December 25, 2004
HAPPY HOLIDAYS
Happy Holidays everyone!! Hmm.. i wonder who will hate me now for saying that (some right-winger out there is probably fuming as he/she reads this). I recently saw on the news that there were a number of Christian groups that actually were boycotting department stores (such as Macy's) that had started using the generic "Happy Holidays" instead of "Merry Christmas" in their stores and ads. Geez...how Republican can you get? "You're not an exclusively Christian company, so you don't deserve to be in business." Gimme a break! Now, I have no problem when companies feel like strictly using "Merry Christmas" in their ads, but when a company is berated for using a more inclusive phrase, something is seriously wrong.
Anyway, today we went to a Christmas get-together at Kay's house (she's a friend of the family, a real estate agent who sold my parent's house a few years ago). My aunt Nora, uncle Julio and cousins (Grimi and Daniel) were there as well. As for the food, there was turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, cauliflower casserole (as well as a various array of chocolate goodies) so i had yet another huge, indulgent meal. :) But it was okay though, since later on that evening my dad and I went out jogging around the neighborhood (5.2 miles). It was totally dark outside, but at least there were'nt that many cars on the road (being Christmas and all). Anyway, it felt great to be running again! Especially after eating so much...tonight I ran the whole way without stopping to walk (usually i have to take a walking break every 1-2 miles). I think all that chocolate is good running fuel. :)
Anyway, today we went to a Christmas get-together at Kay's house (she's a friend of the family, a real estate agent who sold my parent's house a few years ago). My aunt Nora, uncle Julio and cousins (Grimi and Daniel) were there as well. As for the food, there was turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, cauliflower casserole (as well as a various array of chocolate goodies) so i had yet another huge, indulgent meal. :) But it was okay though, since later on that evening my dad and I went out jogging around the neighborhood (5.2 miles). It was totally dark outside, but at least there were'nt that many cars on the road (being Christmas and all). Anyway, it felt great to be running again! Especially after eating so much...tonight I ran the whole way without stopping to walk (usually i have to take a walking break every 1-2 miles). I think all that chocolate is good running fuel. :)
Monday, December 20, 2004
eugene
yesterday i took the train to Eugene, Oregon with my parents. we left our house around 6pm, and ended up getting to our hotel at 6pm today (so that's 24 hours of travel, covering only a couple hundred miles). Yes, the trip was a bee-yatch. First off, we had to take a taxi from our house to the Amtrak bus stop in Santa Rosa, which we boarded a charter bus to Martinez (the closest train station). The bus ride was only a couple hours long, so we ended up getting to Martinez around 9:30pm. Our train was supposed to arrive at 11:50pm, but it ended being more than fashionably late (try 1:30am). So yeah, that's four hours waiting at teeny train station. Eek.
Wednesday, December 15, 2004
yet another good day
today was the last day of the conference..jesus's talk was the first of the last block of talks (starting at 1:30). it was really good but unfortunately there weren't a lot of people there (lots of people had taken off before noon).
after the conference was over, a bunch of us (jesus, joerg, post-doc joerg, tetsuya, jim, and me) went out for dinner to celebrate. we ended up going to this mexican place called Maya, which was excellent. First off, instead of bread, before the meal they served nachos with guacamole (hurray--stuff i could eat and that also happened to be tasty at the same time). I ended up ordering two appetizers (quesadillas surtidas and sopa de elote), which were both amazing. For those of you who don't speak Spanish, sopa de elote is soup made of corn. This soup was particularly sweet, and had a dumpling it in with huitlacoche, which i found out is like a mushroom from the corn plant. at first, i didn't think i would like it since i don't like mushrooms at all, but this tasted quite different (it tasted good! :D ). Anyway, at the end i was so stuffed that i didn't order dessert (a rarity), even though some of the items looked especially good (like the postre de tres leches).
After dinner, my dad picked me up at my hotel, and we drove back to Santa Rosa. we ended up getting there around 10 something, so i went to sleep early.
after the conference was over, a bunch of us (jesus, joerg, post-doc joerg, tetsuya, jim, and me) went out for dinner to celebrate. we ended up going to this mexican place called Maya, which was excellent. First off, instead of bread, before the meal they served nachos with guacamole (hurray--stuff i could eat and that also happened to be tasty at the same time). I ended up ordering two appetizers (quesadillas surtidas and sopa de elote), which were both amazing. For those of you who don't speak Spanish, sopa de elote is soup made of corn. This soup was particularly sweet, and had a dumpling it in with huitlacoche, which i found out is like a mushroom from the corn plant. at first, i didn't think i would like it since i don't like mushrooms at all, but this tasted quite different (it tasted good! :D ). Anyway, at the end i was so stuffed that i didn't order dessert (a rarity), even though some of the items looked especially good (like the postre de tres leches).
After dinner, my dad picked me up at my hotel, and we drove back to Santa Rosa. we ended up getting there around 10 something, so i went to sleep early.
another good day
this morning, i went to a greasy spoon across the street for breakfast. scrambled eggs with cheese & onions, and potatoes--greasy, but tasty nonethless (and only $7). i only had four dollars on me, so i tried to pay with my credit card. unfortunately, it turned out the place was cash only. oops... ok now i look dumb. but they weren't rude about it all, they were fine with me dashing across the street to an ATM. ok, that was convenient yet pissing since i had to pay a $2.95 fee for using the generic atm. However, the ATM ended up giving me $60 instead of the $40 that i requested! So i guess in the end I made $17.05 by making a lazy and slightly embarrassing error. :) Funny how that works.
After that, I headed over to the Hilton for a few talks. I was lucky that the ones i saw this time weren't completely full (the ones yesterday had so many people spilling out from the doors, you'd think they'd be trying to get in to see a Britney Spears concert). After those were all over, i went to a Japanese restaurant across the street (Niko Niko sushi) with Cait & Maggie. We all ended up getting bento boxes. I got chicken teriyaki and some kind of sushi. the chicken teriyaki was alright, and the "sushi" was tasty yet really sweet. I put sushi in quotes because it wasn't really, it was just a sweet ball of rice covered with fried tofu. i don't know, maybe there were microscopic bits of raw fish in there, but i sure couldn't see it (or taste it).
After the afternoon sessions and taking care of other stuff, i met up with Teresa in Union Square. I hadn't seen her in a really long time (I think before I came to MIT!) so it was really great to see her again. We ended up going shopping (to Banana Republic, the Gap, Express, Anthropologie), just like old times. :) I ended up getting a carmine-colored sweater at Express (40% off!) and a coral-colored turtleneck at the Gap (also on sale).
After that, I met up with all the MTL folks (Annie, Maggie, Cait, Ingvar, and Liang) to go out to dinner and celebrate (Annie & Ingvar had already given their talks). We ended up going to Japanese restaurant. I ended up having seaweed salad (which was really good) and some beef on a skewer (didn't taste as great as it looked). I also ordered sushi, but it wasn't my fave. For dessert we ended up going to some old 50's diner. It was weird because after being in there for a few seconds i remembered that i had been there once (about 5 years ago) with someone i had dated back in Berkeley. I swear, this trip has brought back so many memories from the past..it's pretty cool. :) Anyway, at this diner (i forgot the name of it) Ingvar was the only one who ordered a real dessert (hot fudge sundae), but he ended up splitting it with the most of us. I had a hot chocolate, which was good but extremely sugary. But that was to be expected, I guess.
After that, I headed over to the Hilton for a few talks. I was lucky that the ones i saw this time weren't completely full (the ones yesterday had so many people spilling out from the doors, you'd think they'd be trying to get in to see a Britney Spears concert). After those were all over, i went to a Japanese restaurant across the street (Niko Niko sushi) with Cait & Maggie. We all ended up getting bento boxes. I got chicken teriyaki and some kind of sushi. the chicken teriyaki was alright, and the "sushi" was tasty yet really sweet. I put sushi in quotes because it wasn't really, it was just a sweet ball of rice covered with fried tofu. i don't know, maybe there were microscopic bits of raw fish in there, but i sure couldn't see it (or taste it).
After the afternoon sessions and taking care of other stuff, i met up with Teresa in Union Square. I hadn't seen her in a really long time (I think before I came to MIT!) so it was really great to see her again. We ended up going shopping (to Banana Republic, the Gap, Express, Anthropologie), just like old times. :) I ended up getting a carmine-colored sweater at Express (40% off!) and a coral-colored turtleneck at the Gap (also on sale).
After that, I met up with all the MTL folks (Annie, Maggie, Cait, Ingvar, and Liang) to go out to dinner and celebrate (Annie & Ingvar had already given their talks). We ended up going to Japanese restaurant. I ended up having seaweed salad (which was really good) and some beef on a skewer (didn't taste as great as it looked). I also ordered sushi, but it wasn't my fave. For dessert we ended up going to some old 50's diner. It was weird because after being in there for a few seconds i remembered that i had been there once (about 5 years ago) with someone i had dated back in Berkeley. I swear, this trip has brought back so many memories from the past..it's pretty cool. :) Anyway, at this diner (i forgot the name of it) Ingvar was the only one who ordered a real dessert (hot fudge sundae), but he ended up splitting it with the most of us. I had a hot chocolate, which was good but extremely sugary. But that was to be expected, I guess.
Monday, December 13, 2004
a great day
today was a busy day. first, i ended up waking up around 6 am (due to the 3-hour time difference, of course). but the conference didn't start till 9am (and i knew the first hour would just be awards and other bs), so i wasn't in any rush. so after showering, i ended up watching "Collision Course" on HBO (it was basically like a bad '80s version of "Rush Hour," with Jay Leno as the American cop and Pat Morita as the Asian counterpart). The movie didn't look very appealing, but I only watched it because there was Japanese in it. :)
After that, I headed off for Dottie's Cafe for breakfast. I sat at the bar and watched the cooks prepare amazing looking blueberry pancakes and French toast. But since I could still feel the effects of yesterday's meal at the greasy spoon, I ordered oatmeal (which believe it or not, ended up costing me around $8). However, to their credit, they did provide brown sugar, strawberries, and cream along with it, which made all the difference in taste (plain oatmeal is just inedible, IMHO).
After breakfast, I ended up getting to the conference around 10:15, which was great since i only had wanted to hear the plenary talks and not the b.s.ing in the beginning. I caught the last two plenary talks, which were good (though it was hard to pay attention since i was sitting waaay in the back, and i wasn't tall enough to see over everyone's heads).
When those talks were done, I ended up going with Cait to Subway for lunch. We ended up getting these chicken spinach salads and eating them in Union Square. The weather was amazingly perfect..i didn't even need a jacket (it must have been around 65 degrees)! It was kind of odd, here's this sunny, warm weather... and there's a huge Christmas tree in the center of the square, surrounded by palm trees, and carolers wearing Santa hats (i'm thinking, this is December, right?). Although I've experienced it for 14 years, I had forgotten what Christmas in California is like. I used to think it was boring (there's no watching snowflakes fall, you can't make snowmen or snowangels), but now I have to agree that it *is* kind of nice not having to worry about getting frostbitten for 4 months out of the year. :)
After that, I headed off for Dottie's Cafe for breakfast. I sat at the bar and watched the cooks prepare amazing looking blueberry pancakes and French toast. But since I could still feel the effects of yesterday's meal at the greasy spoon, I ordered oatmeal (which believe it or not, ended up costing me around $8). However, to their credit, they did provide brown sugar, strawberries, and cream along with it, which made all the difference in taste (plain oatmeal is just inedible, IMHO).
After breakfast, I ended up getting to the conference around 10:15, which was great since i only had wanted to hear the plenary talks and not the b.s.ing in the beginning. I caught the last two plenary talks, which were good (though it was hard to pay attention since i was sitting waaay in the back, and i wasn't tall enough to see over everyone's heads).
When those talks were done, I ended up going with Cait to Subway for lunch. We ended up getting these chicken spinach salads and eating them in Union Square. The weather was amazingly perfect..i didn't even need a jacket (it must have been around 65 degrees)! It was kind of odd, here's this sunny, warm weather... and there's a huge Christmas tree in the center of the square, surrounded by palm trees, and carolers wearing Santa hats (i'm thinking, this is December, right?). Although I've experienced it for 14 years, I had forgotten what Christmas in California is like. I used to think it was boring (there's no watching snowflakes fall, you can't make snowmen or snowangels), but now I have to agree that it *is* kind of nice not having to worry about getting frostbitten for 4 months out of the year. :)
Wednesday, December 08, 2004
better weather
yay, today it's not raining, and it has warmed up. one good thing about the winter (aside from the snow) is that you can happy on days where it's not bitterly freezing. :)
so i'm up to 7% of my fundraising goal for the Boston Marathon (So far I have to raise $2500, and I have $170). I have until January 20 to raise the money, so I need to think of other ideas.
i saw a cool movie this morning, "Three to Tango." Normally i don't watch TV in the mornings, but i just happened to be bored during breakfast and it happened to be on. Normally i don' t like romantic comedies, but this one was pretty funny.
last night i ran 3 miles in the SP gym. i got to use my new MuVo2 mp3 player, so that was cool. i was a bit disappointed though, as i just realized that in order to use the FM radio inside it, i need to get some additional accessory. hmm, i wonder how much that will cost...i'm reluctant to shell out more $$ for something i wouldn't use that often. thing is, i don't normally listen to the radio, but i just thought it would be convenient to use in the gym so I can listen to what's on the television. However, In the Z center you don't need a radio to listen to the TV (the bikes/treadmills/steppers already come with plug-ins for your headphones) and you can choose to watch a number of channels. So i guess when i want to watch TV during a workout i can always go over there instead...
so i'm up to 7% of my fundraising goal for the Boston Marathon (So far I have to raise $2500, and I have $170). I have until January 20 to raise the money, so I need to think of other ideas.
i saw a cool movie this morning, "Three to Tango." Normally i don't watch TV in the mornings, but i just happened to be bored during breakfast and it happened to be on. Normally i don' t like romantic comedies, but this one was pretty funny.
last night i ran 3 miles in the SP gym. i got to use my new MuVo2 mp3 player, so that was cool. i was a bit disappointed though, as i just realized that in order to use the FM radio inside it, i need to get some additional accessory. hmm, i wonder how much that will cost...i'm reluctant to shell out more $$ for something i wouldn't use that often. thing is, i don't normally listen to the radio, but i just thought it would be convenient to use in the gym so I can listen to what's on the television. However, In the Z center you don't need a radio to listen to the TV (the bikes/treadmills/steppers already come with plug-ins for your headphones) and you can choose to watch a number of channels. So i guess when i want to watch TV during a workout i can always go over there instead...
Monday, December 06, 2004
busy, busy
well i've been so busy lately that i've had no time to write. so here's a summary of major developments in the past month:
** In early November, I got my MRI results (of my lower back) and the blood tests back, and found out that the results were normal. At first I was quite irritated since that ruled out any sort of joint inflammation or slipped/herniated disc (and thus left me back at square one in terms of finding the cause & solution of my leg pain). But then I realized that it's just plain silly to be upset that your MRI turned out normal. Just plain silly. The rheumatologist I saw said that my problem was thus likely neurological (i.e. nerves in my leg muscles are transmitting pain signals even though there is no longer anything to cause them pain in the first place).
So I get prescribed a very low dosage (10 mg) of Imimpryline (a tricyclic antidepressant), which is supposed to help in the perception of nerve pain. I wasn't too optimistic about this one since a few months back I was prescribed Elavil (amitryptiline) for the same reason, and the side effects (MAJOR dry mouth, drowsiness, dizziness, abdominal pain) were such a pain (literally) that I had to stop it after a few weeks. Even at such low doses as 10-20mg (regular doses are 50-100mg for depressed people), it seemed to be doing more harm than good.
Furthermore, I never like taking any sort of drugs for anything (never have) but I was at my wits' end so I filled the prescription. I was also referred to a neurologist at MIT, but the earliest appointment available was in February. I begged if there was some way I could see another neurologist at a different location, and then finally got an appointment with someone at MGH (the earliest appointment was December 28th). Not great at all (especially since that meant I had to be back in Boston by the 27th) but I took it anyway. Grumble, grumble.
** That same day, I spent a lot of time Googling on the net (yet again) to try to find a cause (and solution) of this problem. I didn't want to take the prescription medicine because it seemed like it wouldn't be getting to the heart of the problem. Eventually I found some sites (listed below) that mentioned how cream with capsaicin (extract from chili peppers) can be very helpful for chronic pain sufferers. So i figured out I should give it a shot...I was almost desparate enough to try magnet therapy (ok, so maybe not *that* desperate ;-D ).
general info about capsaicin
capsaicin as alternative pain-relief treatment
** Somewhere around in the middle of all this (Nov. 10?) Michael & I broke up. Lots of tears (not to mention packets of Kleenex). But at this point I guess it's better for both of us to move on with our lives.
** Around Nov. 17, I purchased a tube of Nuprin(R) brand capsaicin cream (it's called "arthritis relief" or something like that). I applied it and it at first it sort of burned for several hours (normal). I kept applying it 2-3x a day and it always sort of burned at first (or whenever I took a shower) but slowly it died down. More importantly, it actually decreased the pain I was having in my hamstrings/quads!!
** On Nov. 20, two AMAZING things happened: (1) I ran for the first time in several months (i went to TNT practice in Wellesley, and ran about 4.5 miles). It was the first time that I could run without nagging pain, plus I didn't have the stabbing pain afterwards. Woo-hoo! And (2), later that day, Cal whupped Stanfurd's ass in the Big Game, 41-6!! I went to Hurricane O'Reilly's in Boston to watch it with some MIT friends who were also Cal alums. It was such a pleasure to watch the Stanfurd players get their asses kicked. :) Go Bears!!! :)
** On Nov. 24, I ran for the 2nd time, this time only 2 miles, nonstop. I was still in sort of disbelief, that I could actually run again!
From then on I started running 3x a week, 2-3 miles each time. Wow, was I actually getting back into a training regimen! I'm starting to get my confidence back!!
** On December 4, I ran 5.0 miles in 56 minutes (yay!), at TNT practice. This time it was basically the same course as 2 weeks ago, but this time I wasn't gasping for air, nor was I dead last. At last, I didn't forget how to run!! ::) And yeah ~11:00/mile is a crappy pace, but i stopped to walk about 2-3 times, plus there were tons of hills (ack!). It was on the cold side (upper 20s/low 30s) but that's actually totally fine by me..i had gloves & a hat.
BTW- I still haven't taken the prescribed imiprimine for the pain, since the capsaicin seems to be doing such a good job. I still plan on going to the neurologist though, just in case the pain flares up again, or if they can actually give me a more accurate diagnosis of the problem I had.
** In early November, I got my MRI results (of my lower back) and the blood tests back, and found out that the results were normal. At first I was quite irritated since that ruled out any sort of joint inflammation or slipped/herniated disc (and thus left me back at square one in terms of finding the cause & solution of my leg pain). But then I realized that it's just plain silly to be upset that your MRI turned out normal. Just plain silly. The rheumatologist I saw said that my problem was thus likely neurological (i.e. nerves in my leg muscles are transmitting pain signals even though there is no longer anything to cause them pain in the first place).
So I get prescribed a very low dosage (10 mg) of Imimpryline (a tricyclic antidepressant), which is supposed to help in the perception of nerve pain. I wasn't too optimistic about this one since a few months back I was prescribed Elavil (amitryptiline) for the same reason, and the side effects (MAJOR dry mouth, drowsiness, dizziness, abdominal pain) were such a pain (literally) that I had to stop it after a few weeks. Even at such low doses as 10-20mg (regular doses are 50-100mg for depressed people), it seemed to be doing more harm than good.
Furthermore, I never like taking any sort of drugs for anything (never have) but I was at my wits' end so I filled the prescription. I was also referred to a neurologist at MIT, but the earliest appointment available was in February. I begged if there was some way I could see another neurologist at a different location, and then finally got an appointment with someone at MGH (the earliest appointment was December 28th). Not great at all (especially since that meant I had to be back in Boston by the 27th) but I took it anyway. Grumble, grumble.
** That same day, I spent a lot of time Googling on the net (yet again) to try to find a cause (and solution) of this problem. I didn't want to take the prescription medicine because it seemed like it wouldn't be getting to the heart of the problem. Eventually I found some sites (listed below) that mentioned how cream with capsaicin (extract from chili peppers) can be very helpful for chronic pain sufferers. So i figured out I should give it a shot...I was almost desparate enough to try magnet therapy (ok, so maybe not *that* desperate ;-D ).
general info about capsaicin
capsaicin as alternative pain-relief treatment
** Somewhere around in the middle of all this (Nov. 10?) Michael & I broke up. Lots of tears (not to mention packets of Kleenex). But at this point I guess it's better for both of us to move on with our lives.
** Around Nov. 17, I purchased a tube of Nuprin(R) brand capsaicin cream (it's called "arthritis relief" or something like that). I applied it and it at first it sort of burned for several hours (normal). I kept applying it 2-3x a day and it always sort of burned at first (or whenever I took a shower) but slowly it died down. More importantly, it actually decreased the pain I was having in my hamstrings/quads!!
** On Nov. 20, two AMAZING things happened: (1) I ran for the first time in several months (i went to TNT practice in Wellesley, and ran about 4.5 miles). It was the first time that I could run without nagging pain, plus I didn't have the stabbing pain afterwards. Woo-hoo! And (2), later that day, Cal whupped Stanfurd's ass in the Big Game, 41-6!! I went to Hurricane O'Reilly's in Boston to watch it with some MIT friends who were also Cal alums. It was such a pleasure to watch the Stanfurd players get their asses kicked. :) Go Bears!!! :)
** On Nov. 24, I ran for the 2nd time, this time only 2 miles, nonstop. I was still in sort of disbelief, that I could actually run again!
From then on I started running 3x a week, 2-3 miles each time. Wow, was I actually getting back into a training regimen! I'm starting to get my confidence back!!
** On December 4, I ran 5.0 miles in 56 minutes (yay!), at TNT practice. This time it was basically the same course as 2 weeks ago, but this time I wasn't gasping for air, nor was I dead last. At last, I didn't forget how to run!! ::) And yeah ~11:00/mile is a crappy pace, but i stopped to walk about 2-3 times, plus there were tons of hills (ack!). It was on the cold side (upper 20s/low 30s) but that's actually totally fine by me..i had gloves & a hat.
BTW- I still haven't taken the prescribed imiprimine for the pain, since the capsaicin seems to be doing such a good job. I still plan on going to the neurologist though, just in case the pain flares up again, or if they can actually give me a more accurate diagnosis of the problem I had.
