Trying to find three songs.... but I'm surprised at how hard it is to find them online.

Tomorrow
Annie's Song
Invincible

~Rivers Cuomo

I'd have thought obsessed fans out there would have posted them somewhere, or maybe I am just sucking at finding them?

Man, this is all my fault for forgetting to go to his website before he took the songs down.

A first for everything:

First time I got hit on in my car as I drove down Santa Anita on my way home.

And no, it wasn't nice. 

I wrote a thank you note to my first favorite professor several weeks ago, after graduation to thank him for inspiring me to love math.  And incredibly he sent me back a note today. 
That really made my day.  And it's nice to know that he's still out there, even though I haven't seen him in a long time (whereas my spies...ahem..I mean, close friends... spot him now and then in Westwood)  =)

I can't believe it's been over four years since I took his PIC 10B class.  I've very much changed since then and so I wonder how he is doing.  I never did go into his pretty blue building even though I lived next to it for two years and had said I would go in one day.  Oh wells, perhaps our paths will cross again sometime.  I guess this is one definite sign that I'm growing up and older: having people that I know from places that I leave. 

So yes, he was one wonderful professor and is still most likely a very nice and funny guy.

* and gosh, he lives very close to my second favorite professor!

The most beautiful output ever!  and it only took 10,000 iterations to finally converge...haha, okay, yes that sucks, but I haven't refined my method of exploring the search space yet.  But hey, the program found all my hidden "GATTACA"s in the sequences! whooohoo!!!
 
=================================
=   GIBBS SAMPLING FOR MOTIFS  =
=================================
6:  G A T T A C A
9:  G A T T A C A
22:  G A T T A C A
13:  G A T T A C A
4:  G A T T A C A
1:  G A T T A C A
17:  G A T T A C A
10:  G A T T A C A
18:  G A T T A C A
0:  G A T T A C A

Are You a Full-Time Female Student Interested in Financial Aid?

Haha!! source of moola if I get desperate enough! =)

Amazing... I just found out someone that I knew is a new mother... man... incredible! 
And as always brides always look so beautiful!  
And of course, I'm nowhere near that stage in my life yet...

I form a lot of assumptions about people.  I am interested in everyone that I meet and so assumptions are an obvious result of reflecting on a person.  I can't even estimate the percentage of the time that I'm right or wrong.  Because it's hard to check without really finding out or asking the person about it.

Usually I think I make pretty informative and correct predictions.  But lately I've been surprised that a lot of things that I had thought of was proven wrong.  Now I'm wondering if the assumptions prevented me from saying or doing certain things.  Thing sure turn out weird. 

Sometimes I don't like being restricted in my own mind.  Why can't I stray?  No... I have to live and think through one perspective only.  Even when I get other points of view and perspectives, it IS still MY perspective, because I received it through me, so I put my own bias on it when it gets transferred to me.  I've always wanted to be somewhat omniscient but I guess that's only for my curiosity's sake, could I be trusted with such information?  Maybe so, maybe not...  though I do know for sure that I wouldn't like it someone out there in the world does have this power.  =) 

Some unexpected answers to those nagging health question from Dr. Buford Teapotts, MD.

Q: I've heard that cardiovascular exercise can prolong life. Is this true?
A: Your heart is only good for so many beats, and that's it... Don't waste them on exercise. Everything wears out eventually. Speeding up your heart will not make you live longer; that's like saying you can extend the life of your car by driving it faster. Want to live longer? Take a nap.

Q: Should I cut down on meat and eat more fruits and vegetables?
A: You must grasp logistical efficiencies. What does a cow eat? Hay and corn. And what are these? Vegetables. So a steak is nothing more than an efficient mechanism of delivering vegetables to your system. Need grain? Eat chicken. Beef is also a good source of field grass (green leafy vegetable). And a pork chop can give you 100% of your recommended daily allowance of vegetable slop.

Q: Is beer or wine bad for me?
A: Look, it goes to the earlier point about fruits and vegetables. As we all know, scientists divide everything in the world into three categories: animal, mineral, andvegetable. We all know that beer and wine are not animal, and they are not on the periodic table of elements, so that only leaves one thing, right? My advice: Have a burger and a beer and enjoy your liquid vegetables.

Q: How can I calculate my body/fat ratio?
A: Well, if you have a body, and you have body fat, your ratio is one to one. If you have two bodies, your ratio is two to one, etc.

Q: What are some of the advantages of participating in a regular exercise program?
A: Can't think of a single one. Sorry. My philosophy is: No Pain = Good. Or better yet.....No Pain = No Pain.

Q: Aren't fried foods bad for you?
A: You're not listening. Foods are fried these days in vegetable oil. In fact, they're permeated in it. How could getting more vegetables be bad for you?

Q: What's the secret to healthy eating?
A: Thicker gravy.

Q: Will sit-ups help prevent me from getting a little soft around the middle?
A: Definitely not! When you exercise a muscle, it gets bigger. You should only be doing sit-ups if you want a bigger stomach!

Q: Is chocolate bad for me?
A: Are you crazy? HELLO... Cocoa beans... another vegetable!!! It's the best 'feel-good' food around!

Well, I hope this has cleared up any misconceptions you may have had about food and diets.  Glad I could help you out!

I'm a nerd.  I woke up in the middle of the night and when I glanced at my clock, it read 3:14.  My mind went "mmm.... piiii" and then I went back to sleep.

 
New rollerblades.
Smooth.
Very fun.
Pretty.

Your career should be something you do and have so much fun doing that sometimes you feel a little guilty about taking the money.

Ellen Lentz
Biostatistician
Hoffmann La Roche Pharmaceutical Inc.

I don't know if there is any periodicity to my moods, but once again I'm feeling so blah... I'm being overwhelmed at work, it feels like I'm tied to computers. I spend all day in front of one and all night in front of one. I had plans (academic, not recreational) for summer and it feels like it's going too fast.

Come on! Someone please be online! I guess I'm just getting tired of being isolated again... I so want to be in Westwood running... feel like a big blob of blah. Yep, something exciting must happen! Oye... the highlight of my day today was my ice cream from Rite Aid (two scoop of mint chip and butter pecan, my usual). =)


Currently playing : Counting Crows : Accidentally in Love

So she said what's the problem baby
What's the problem I don't know
Well maybe I'm in love (love)
Think about it every time
I think about it
Can't stop thinking 'bout it

How much longer will it take to cure this
Just to cure it cause I can't ignore it if it's love (love)
Makes me wanna turn around and face me but I don't know nothing 'bout love

Come on, come on
Turn a little faster
Come on, come on
The world will follow after
Come on, come on
Cause everybody's after love

So I said I'm a snowball running
Running down into the spring that's coming all this love
Melting under blue skies
Belting out sunlight
Shimmering love

Well baby I surrender
To the strawberry ice cream
Never ever end of all this love
Well I didn't mean to do it
But there's no escaping your love

These lines of lightning
Mean we're never alone,
Never alone, no, no

Come on, Come on
Move a little closer
Come on, Come on
I want to hear you whisper
Come on, Come on
Settle down inside my love

Come on, come on
Jump a little higher
Come on, come on
If you feel a little lighter
Come on, come on
We were once
Upon a time in love

We're accidentally in love
Accidentally in love (x7)

Accidentally

I'm In Love, I'm in Love,
I'm in Love, I'm in Love,
I'm in Love, I'm in Love,
Accidentally (X 2)

Come on, come on
Spin a little tighter
Come on, come on
And the world's a little brighter
Come on, come on
Just get yourself inside her

Love ...I'm in love

Frances at work:

California Science Center

Linda, Tammy, Frances

SoCalBSI Ice Skating in Pasadena:

Left to right:
Dave, Connie, Lien, Kim, Frances
Christine, Jackie, Angela


:: photo courtesy of Lien ::

Wednesday July 7
- Robert's 23rd birthday, went out to eat at Wokcano, had fun! =) It was very nice to hang out with old friends...

Friday July 9
- SoCalBSI dinner at Saladang Song, pretty restaurant with the best smelling restroom I've ever been in...
- Ice skating at Pasadena Ice Skating Center! Very fun!

Saturday July 10
- Body Worlds exhibit at California Science Center... quite an amazing display of cadavers! I learned so much, fascinating...though I had a hard time trying to make sure that I remembered these bodies that were so cut up and flayed were once real live humans just like you and me...
It really makes you rethink how you treat your body and even on the issue of abortion...they had fetuses displayed at almost every stage of pregnancy, especially sad and poignant was the lady and her exposed 8 month old baby still inside her... =(
Well, quite an educational experience, worth $9.50, there was just so much stuff to see and analyze... Can't really describe it in words...

Everything works out in the end. If it hasn't worked out, it's not the end.

- Unknown

Why can't I bring back parts of my life whenever I feel like it? I need a dose of that thing I wanted to bottle up a few months ago.

Neal Stephenson's "Cryptonomicon":

"You have a good knowledge of Unix and a girlfriend. Not many people can say that."


~ on the door of software engineer Peter at Paracel

I still can't believe I can't go back to UCLA for school anytime soon. Did I actually finish??? Poopies...

This past weekend was actually quite fun:

Friday: SoCalBSI beach partaaay! =) Just as fun as last year... ultimate frisbee, roast hot dogs and smores, sand castles, cool water! It was perfect weather and I was extremely happy.

Saturday: Tennis in the morning with Tammy and then dinner at BJ's with Tammy, Linda, Sussi, Julius, Wilson, Jeff M. and Jeff Y.

Sunday: BBQ and fireworks at aunt's house, hadn't seen my cousins in such a long time. Dang, they grow up fast, I still remember when I held Jeannie as a newborn baby when I was 10 years old, now she's already 13 and pretty tall...
Greece won Euro 2004! 1-0 against the host team Portugal. Incredible and really exciting...

Monday: Outlet shopping at Camarillo, got some GAP jeans and ADIDAS running shoes... whoohoo! I was sick that morning though...woke up with huge headache and totally thought I was gonna vomit. (Food poisoning?) Went back to Westwood to take Calvin back to apt and move some of his stuff back.

Tammy : You Got The Love :: Source Feat. Candi Staton

Haven't been able to get it yet though...

LIFE IS WONDERFUL!

It's another one of those "Frances is at peace and extremely happy" days when everything is going so well... minor problems of course but in general... the feeling invades my sould and body...

Contributing to this are two great songs I just recently got:

Modest Mouse - Float On (Thanks to Roy for sending it to me!)
Los Lonely Boys - Heaven

And it's off to the beach I go today!!! =)

Ah, I'm feeling so much better about work now...

I actually got something real done in two weeks! Yeah baby! It still needs some tweaking, but dude, it works!!! (just writing some cgi scripts to automate database loading)

Anyhoo, Marc is great, he understands the level of work that I can do and guides me toward the big picture with little goals.