bitter magnet

the annual MTL annual research conference (or MARC, as it is now known) was held in waterville valley (NH) yesterday (and, technically, the day before as well). However, yesterday we really didn't do much discussing about research, it was more a day of skiing, eating, drinking, more eating, and later more drinking (and dancing!) :) Hey--sounds like my kind of conference! :)

Anyway, since I went on the later bus (we got to Waterville yesterday at like 2pm), I didn't go skiing. I didn't want to get up early, and plus I didn't want to risk injuring my knees or any other crucial body parts to my running (I know that injuries are not that common, but i am a klutz, so...). when we got there we just dropped our stuff in the assigned condos (i got my own room, with a king-size bed and TV!) and then went to a coffee shop, and basically stayed there talking (with joyce, vikas, annie, and later xin) for like two hours. the thing was it was cold outside and i already had seen the area around waterville (it was my 4th time there), so i wasn't so gungho on walking around anywhere. when 5:00pm finally rolled around, we all got up to go to the welcome reception at the conference center. i wouldn't have been so interested in going if i hadn't known there was going to be an open bar there. :) so i went and got a rasperry smirnoff ice (didn't know they came in flavors!) which tasted more like raspberry soda than anything else (i downed it quickly!). the hors douvres were good, they had these quesadilla-like things with spinach in them, and they had served them with sour cream, so how could I pass up. :)

after the reception, there was the dinner itself, which featured a speaker towards the end. the dinner was this chicken thing with potatoes and carrots..ok but a bit bland. i saved myself for the dessert, which was strawberries & whipped cream on what looked like dinner rolls. i actually liked it, because the bread was more salty than sweet (a lot of people disliked it for that same reason) but the portion size was too big so I only ate about 1/2 of it (gee, haven't I become Japanese? :) )

and after the dinner, there was an "informal gathering" at legends (the one and only bar at the little resort), to which we did a bunch of different things (i drank a hot chocolate with peppermint schnapps, watched a bunch of folks shoot some hoops in this teeny little arcade-like basketball game, talked to some people here and there and then hit the dance floor for like ~2 hours :) ). it was pretty fun, since a number of professors, staff, and students alike were out there dancing...let's just say, not your stereotypical mit geeks. :)

anyway, we ended up staying pretty late (the place closed shortly after midnight) and i ended up going to bed around 1am. despite that, i got up at 6am, since i had to shower and get ready for the breakfast. at 7 i headed off to the conference center to enjoy my bacon, eggs, and pancake (they had a full-fledged hot breakfast waiting there!). i'm glad i got there early cuz the food apparently ran out. also, i got first dibs on the MTL jackets they were giving away (everyone there got one, but the Women's size smalls were really quick to go). they looked pretty nice..bright red color with the MTL logo. I actually wore it inside the conference room for a while (it was FREEZING in there) since i was cold and I dind't have a sweater.

anyways, the conference itself started, we had a guest speaker to talk about MEMS/NEMS who was pretty good, and after that were the student presentations and poster sessions. as usual i kind of zoned out during the poster sessions and spent the time rehearsing my own presentation (i was the session chair for one of the afternoon sessions) and chatting with other folks from the lab. at 1pm we got to go to lunch, which i was pleased to say was some pretty decent lasagna (in previous years, we always got different kinds of sliced bread and cold cuts as a make-your-own-sandwich ordeal). we didn't get the various kinds of desserts though (just a few kinds of cookies), but that's probably a good thing (don't want to see half the people there in insulin shock in mid-afternoon).

at 2pm the sessions started again, which was when i had to go up and give my schpiel on molecular & nanotechnology. i tried not to make it boring and i tried to keep it short and everything. i guess it went ok, and afterwards i got a little glass paperweight thing (as all the other organizers/session chairs recieved) with the MTL & MARC logo in it, as well as our name. I must say they look pretty nice! Mine's on my desk at home now.

anyway, at 4:30 or so the conference was over, and we all got back on the buses to MIT. we ended up getting back to 39 around 7pm or so, after which i trudged back to SP with my suitcase in tow (it was windy as hell outside, but i wasn't about to sit around and wait for the SafeRide). after i got back, i just kind of chilled and then Joe came home soon after. we enjoyed a quiet dinner and then just watched some TV. tomorrow's friday...yay! :)

well today, joe and i registered for Boston's Run to Remember half-marathon race. I'm so excited...i ran it last year on my own (with Team in Training), the first year it was held. That day (March 13, 2005) also happened to be the day that i first became aware of Joe's existence (he sent me an email that day)! Now we can celebrate that by running the same race together. Isn't that so cool? :)

Anyways, good thing that we have committed ourselves to running this race, because we just got back from one of those big brunches at Sidney-Pacific (eggs, bacon, pancakes, fruit, even ICE CREAM :0). But it's ok, we ran 6 miles yesterday. Yay, i'm so glad i've been getting back on track! :)

well, today's the 10-month anniversary of our first date. yay! i can't believe it's only been 10 months...it feels like i've known Joe forever! :)

anyway, what was funny is that tonight I was watching a rerun of Friends, and it just so happened that on that episode Monica & Chandler's were celebrating their 10-month anniversary. WEIRD! :) I know it doesn't mean anything, but I like coincidences, so i'll just make a note of it here anyway. :)

oh, and tonight, joe and i ended up watching Beauty & the Geek again. It's bad, it's only the 2nd episode and i think we're already addicted to the show. :-) Normally we don't watch reality TV (despite the name, i think it's more fake than anything else) but because they had some geeky guys on there (one guy is a MIT grad!) i was just curious. The show is ok, it's kind of funny how some of the girls are so oblivious (one girl couldn't recognize John Kerry from a photograph..she said it was Al Gore) and how some of the guys are clueless as well (one didn't know the name of Britney Spears' baby's father, given a picture). Oh well, it's cheap entertainment, at least. :)

Oh, and tonight in the running class i ran about 5 miles. Am proud of myself, as i am actually getting back into running. I just started last week, when the running class started, and i ran 3 on that Tuesday (1/10) and 4 on the Thursday (1/12). Although I didn't run over the weekend (Saturday - raining, Sunday- EXTREMELY cold, and Monday-too many errands) I managed to run 5 this Tuesday. Before that, I hadn't really run seriously since October (the Boston half-marathon) since i was so busy last semester with TA'ing, IEDM, and Japanese class. But now that that's all over (I only have one semester of Japanese left), and it doesn't start till Feb 7, at least I have some time to get back into shape! below is my workout schedule:

Mon (7:30am) - Pilates (1hr)
Tues (6pm) - running (1hr -1.5 hr)
Wed (7:30am) - Pilates (1hr)
Thurs (6pm) - running (1hr -1.5 hr)
Friday - REST! :)
Saturday (am/noon) - running (45 min)
Sunday (am/noon) - running+ xtrain (1hr)

Pilates is really helping me too, as it is really strengthening my abs and helping my posture. I plan to continue the pilates class throughout the semester, so hopefully i will see a lot of improvement. My goal is to get really fit abs (i'm *so* jealous of Tea Leoni! :) ) but i don't know if that is humanly possible for someone like me. Oh well...it's worth trying. :)