Woohoo, thank you Lien!

She got me the coolest thing a grad student can have : a coffee mug that lets people know that you're a geek! =) And I love Cecilia (www.phdcomics.com)

Who's that nerd 20 minutes early for class?

Apparently I am learning something everyday. Who knew that all of Berkeley's classes always started 10 minutes after the listed time? I guess it's something you learn as soon as you start going to class here. Very weird though, I feel like the class is always late then because UCLA classes always started at the hour and ended at :50.

Monday, August 30

A Little Bit of Fish

Eating fish may help your health even if you only eat it occasionally.
After analyzing several large studies, researchers concluded that a minimal amount of fish in the diet may be enough to confer the benefit of reduced stroke risk. According to study reviews, eating fish as seldom as 1 to 3 times per month was enough to have a beneficial effect on the risk of ischemic stroke, the most common kind of stroke.

RealAge Benefit: Eating at least 1 serving of fish per week can make your RealAge up to 2.7 years younger.

Photo of rose outside of home front door on my last day in Southern California.

Fruit!

* Peaches
* Pears
* Bananas
* Grapes

Good stuff. =)

[spongebob] (11:11:20 AM): what's in store for you this week?
franiwack (11:12:56 AM): class
franiwack (11:12:57 AM): class
franiwack (11:12:58 AM): class
franiwack (11:12:59 AM): class
franiwack (11:13:05 AM): appointment with head graduate advisor
franiwack (11:13:08 AM): john rice
franiwack (11:13:13 AM): he wrote my 100B textbook :-)
franiwack (11:13:14 AM): hhahahahha
[spongebob] (11:13:56 AM): was it a good textbook? i know the prof. was good
franiwack (11:14:56 AM): great book!
franiwack (11:14:57 AM): :-)
franiwack (11:15:16 AM): you know i'm not that crazy to change my life just because of one factor right?
franiwack (11:15:30 AM): nelson lab had weekly meetings
franiwack (11:15:34 AM): on brain tumor data analysis
franiwack (11:15:44 AM): and a couple statisticians did the work
franiwack (11:15:48 AM): presented and everything
franiwack (11:15:50 AM): that was sooooo cool
franiwack (11:15:55 AM): and i thought i wanna do that too!!
franiwack (11:16:01 AM): cuz all these biologists listen to you
franiwack (11:16:05 AM): and think you are smart
franiwack (11:16:06 AM): hehhehe
franiwack (11:16:15 AM): yeah
franiwack (11:16:20 AM): so that's another reason i'm here
[spongebob] (11:18:00 AM): cuz stats be important

* name changed for privacy :)

How statisticians do it...

Statisticians probably do it.
Statisticians do it continuously but discretely.
Statisticians do it when it counts.
Statisticians do it with large numbers.
Statisticians do it with significance.
Statisticians do it on random walks.
Statisticians do it stochastically.
Statisticians do it. After all, it's only normal.
Statisticians do it with standard deviations.
Statisticians do it with 95% confidence.
Statisticians do it with only a 5% chance of being rejected.

Who needs a car?

Since I've landed in Berkeley, I've been figuring out public transportation here. It's not that bad actually. My ID card has a class pass sticker that allows me to take the AC Transit for free, and the lines go pretty far, even to SF. I've only taken the bus to go to Safeway but I'm thinking of taking the bus to Albertsons and Berkeley Bowl soon. Good thing there are normal supermarkets here. The second day I was here, I ran into Andronicos, and cherries were 7 dollars a pound there!! I freaked out and thought "Dang, they don't pay me enough to eat here!!" So anyways, I'm glad I don't have to ever go into that store again, although I miss having Ralphs right across the street back in Westwood. They do have farmers market twice a week here; I still have to figure out where.

Today I took BART to Target. It went very smoothly and I didn't even have to wait. It was like it was waiting for me to come aboard. I ran through the doors at the last second both times! But I don't think I'm going to go that regularly; it costs $2.50 total and I even forget to buy some stuff. Hehehe...Frances is so absentminded. Anyways, I went on a school supplies shopping spree: plenty of nice new notebooks for me to fill, scotch tape, composition books, pencil lead, pens and ..... a salt shaker. Silly me, it was such a long walk from the Target parking lot to the El Cerrito del Norte BART station and another long walk from the Downtown Berkeley BART station to my apartment lugging all my new stuff! So I took a break in Barnes and Noble and read some books. No need to go to weight training class now... that stuff was so heavy! I like walking the streets though. I did it a lot in Westwood, a lot of time for reflection and just enjoying time by myself.

Yeah, I do everything by myself now. It's okay, I'm used to it. No friends here or at least no friends that I want to bother, so I explore things on my own. =) And for all you people who keep asking, no, I'm not here to get a boyfriend, I'm here to get my PhD. hehe...funny people!

Berkeley!

me, my mom, and Calvin in my building courtyard

Evans Hall : Statistics Department is on 3rd floor, picture taken from atop the Campanile

the bell in Campanile

me and Abe when he came to visit me

me in front of my closet =)

my messy desk (already!)

my mom, me and my dad on my bed

my mom in my room

My dad, me and my mom in the courtyard (facing opposite way from the first pic)

my apt building aka jackson house (you can't see my actual apt from this pic, my apt faces the street, not the courtyard

From an EECS major: "Women in Berkeley are like parking spots. They are either taken, reserved, are handicapped, or you have to keep feeding them money."

Meet Anteros!

(Ant for short)

(Note: I might have to change his name, I have no idea whether it's a positive or negative connotation and I would like it to be a happy one... any more ideas for a name??)

He is my room buddy who offers up plenty of unconditional love as he moves his head happily at me. =)

I feel loved!

I HAVE INTERNET!!!

you can't believe how happy i am right now...

really...

i am so happy to be online...

Yay, my friends are cool, and they are keeping me sane in Berkeley.

Thank you to:

Tammy, who called me yesterday (or was it two days ago?? oh gosh, I lose track of time) to see how I was doing. =)

Linda, who emailed me yesterday (I think it's yesterday...) to see how I was doing. =)

Imran, who IMed me yesterday. He's spreading his coolness to the uncool like me. =)

Ronny, who IMed me today when I was done cleaning my really dirty desk in my office.

Wingyun, who IMed me today also after I cleaned my desk. She is one unique gal. How many times have I said I want to be like her? It's cool that she's getting hit on all the time in St. Louis. (or not cool to her?)

Abe, who called me outside of my apartment just a few hours ago. It's nice having an old buddy here in Berkeley. Good thing you called before you left Abe! Thanks for the company during the walk and dinner and all the tips on where to get groceries.

Helly, who emailed me today. Her baby is cutie! I want one of those someday. =)

My stat email is now:

frances [at] stat.berkeley.edu

Okie, I just checked and it works... so yeah, I finally get my "frances" email. I feel just like Cher or Madonna.

Hi people,

1. Berkeley is just too weird for me. I suppose I'll get used to it? I really really miss UCLA and Westwood.

2. I have no internet connection! I'm typing this in a far off computing center in one of the dorms. Oh how I miss internet...

3. My room is very small, but the building is very nice and I think I'll like living in it.

4. My apartmentmates are mucho cool and interesting. Mechanical engineering, astronomy and law.

5. I don't know where to get groceries. Food and water are extremely precious to me now. =)

6. Without internet, I'm glued to TV. I feel so isolated.

7. I got my office in Evans today. I share it with two other people. It's quite old and dark in there, I will have to go in tomorrow armed with isopropyl. =)

8. I have no idea what's for dinner, I forget to eat now.

9. booooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo! someone take me hooooooooooooooooooooooooome!

10. Okay, hopefully I'll get internet in my room soon, and I'll let you know what my phone number is.

Bye y'all!! I'm gonna miss YOU, and YOU, and YOU, and YOU, and YOU, and especially YOU!!!

Y'all know how to stalk me right? So pleeease do! =)

A Brief and Not Entirely Accurate Account of Why Connie and Frances Are Major Dorks
(disclaimer: Frances has very short term memory and is making up statements as she imagines them, so if the people sound lame here, it's not their fault, unless they did say lame stuff... but then you can't tell, can you?)
================================================
~ All interns are standing outside of 21 Choices in Pasadena, deciding where to get ice cream...
~ A bus passes by, whose side advertises the new sequel to Resident Evil (Apocalypse)

Connie : Ooooh! Look!! Resident Evil! The second movie is coming out soon!
Frances : Whooohooo! I wanna see that too! The first one was soooo good!
Connie : Yeah, I know! Great movie!
Frances : Remember that ending? Way cool!
Connie : Hey Imran, have you seen Resident Evil?
Imran : No, is it good?
Connie : Very good! You should see it. It's based on a video game! The video game is sooo cool!
Frances : Yeah, and the girl who plays the main character is waaay hot!! Like, really hot! You should see it!
Connie : Yeah, she IS hot!

~ Connie and Frances attempt a way cool high five after this statement, but miss! and only slap each other in an awkward waaaay off way.

Imran (rolls his eyes) : You guys are the biggest dorks. First of all, you are girls, and you are talking about video games. And then you say the female character is hot. And that high five has got to be the lamest one I've ever seen.

(Actually, Imran said all that in his way cool way, which I've forgotten verbatim, but you sorta get the picture... ) :)

Another stage in my life has passed, and another one is about to begin. I worked very hard this last week of the SoCalBSI internship to finish everything. Wednesday was my last day at Paracel and I ended up being the only person there at night as I tried to get things working properly before I left for good. Thursday was my final presentation, which went well, I should think. Too bad Marc wasn't there to see that I could give a proper presentation and that I only messed up that other time because I was too nervous and try to overprepare (which never does me any good). So yeah, I was very happy when I finished talking. We went to Buca di Beppo last night, just like we did a year ago. Anyhoo, that was sorta fun though I ended up paying 25 bucks because I was sitting with the professors while most other interns paid only 14 bucks at their own table. We walked around Pasadena a bit chasing after ice cream stores, but finally ended up driving back down to Monterey Park (was it? I suck at directions) to eat ice cream at Rite Aid. All of us loitered outside the store as we finished our ice cream.

Today was fun, though kinda sad towards the end, because you have to say goodbye to everyone. Awww...I'm gonna miss Lien. I'll just bug her from now on on AIM. =) She will do my stats homework for me, yep yep. Anyways, I took tons of pics again. I really need a new camera, really. I need a camera with higher megapixels, faster time in between shots, less dependence on flash, better memory cards and mucho smaller so I can stick it in my pocket to do frequent candids of people. =)

Back to packing! On the road by 10am hopefully...

THIS IS SOOO ME!!! =)

grad student in training...

12 hour workday today and I don't even get paid by the hour! =)

and here for your amusement, my favorite comic!
===================================================

3 days left

It's not really sinking in yet how huge this change in my life will be. Apparently, I haven't really left the nest yet; five years at UCLA was sort of a very gradual immersion and now I am really ready or even overripe.

So, anyone want place bets on what Berkeley will do to me?

Pick one, any one! Super Nerd Party Hearty Girl Political Activist Groovy Hippie Chick Doddering Idiot Pseudo-intellectualPunk rockerAutomatonZombieEmpty ShellDivaIngenueB*t*hConformistNut CaseTransientSuperstar


Too bad I'm stupid and don't know how to incorporate more dynamic stuff on blogger.

In reference to the comment about Blogger lasting 80 years, I am not assuming that nor will I ever think to even record everything publicly. For those who didn't notice, the posts are very old, even before my first post on blogger. They are "safe" and hopefully interesting excerpts from my numerous paper journals. And Blogger isn't a replacement, it's just a public bulletin board for me. I still continue to write in a paper journal. Perhaps I will switch to digital later, but there are many things that of course can not be written publicly.

Saturday, March 5, 1999

... I went under my bed to where I had kept all my previous journals and I read some entries from few years back. There were so many memories that I had forgotten! Now I more fully realize that writing them down is so important. If it isn't here, it'll likely be lost forever! =(
I also know that I'll have to continue writing for the rest of my life, no matter what. Perhaps my children and grandchildren will someday be reading these sentences in the future. ...

Saturday, May 11, 2002 9:35pm

... I don't know if he was happy or annoyed to see me. Does he sense I'm purposely stalking him? ...

Saturday, November 23, 2002 11:28pm

"You wouldn't worry so much about what people thought of you if you knew how seldom they did."

Friday, December 22, 2000 1:47pm

... Anyways, I really want to do this cybernetics major w/ bioinformatics concentration. I can't believe just a year ago, I was thinking about the School of Public Health. I had no idea it was social work! I was also thinking about double majoring in human physiology and economics. But I feel that finally, I am on the right track. I feel that in the future my work will help the whole world. ...

Sunday, May 7, 2000 11:01pm

What Tammy says:
- I'm going CRAZY!
- Yeah, see? I knew it!
- Me gonna go shower soon.
- Stop dialoging, stop cataloging dialogues to myself.
- Hmm, hmm.
- (Sighs)
- Exsqueeze me.
- Darn it.
- You can draw me.

Saturday, April 29, 2000, 5:59pm

Guess what Professor Kan did to me yesterday? I had gone to the first lecture and he mentioned that he had office hours on Sunday from 4:30-5:30pm. Then in the second lecture, he had forgotten. In the middle of lecture, he remembers and starts to write it on the board. But then he says, "Now what did I write in the last lecture?" Then... he looks at me!! So I tell him and the whole class, "4:30 to 5:30". And he says, "I've got this student who comes to all my lectures." Some people start giggling or laughing. Now everyone in my class knows I'm a nerd who sits through 2 hours of Kan's lectures. I don't really mind too much; it just shows he remembers me. =)
Then I said hi to him in the PIC lab. I kind of didn't know what to say. but I must say, I thoroughly LOVE this class. I finish and turn in hw early everytime. I understand the concepts, etc. Well, duh! I go to double the lectures. =) When I am older, this'll be topic for conversation.

Thursday, May 16, 1996

If you could change one thing in the world, what would it be?

If I could change one thing in the world, I would change this question because if I answer it the way most people answer it, I would sound hypocritical. This question is like, "What are you going to be when you grow up?" Anyone can just name a favorable occupation without thinking how to achieve his or her answer. There is not much thought put into these kinds of questions.

Because of this, I can't imagine what I should change. It's not up to me to change the future. Trying to think of the best answer is like pondering the question of life. If I did change even the littlest thing, it could lead to disastrouus outcomes.

Saturday, April 6, 2002 11:35pm

... He's such a good person, I want to get to know him better but how? It's kind of weird, how do professors and students become good friends? ...

Saturday, April 17, 1999

... Berkeley is a very nice school and pretty new inside but it doesn't feel right. And it's too far. I hope Tammy doesn't say to me on Monday that she wants to go to Berkeley. There are a lot of homeless people in the streets. ...

Quand je t'aime
J'ai l'impression d'être un roi
Un chevalier d'autrefois
Le seul homme sur la terre
Quand je t'aime
J'ai l'impression d'être à toi
Comme la rivière au Delta
Prisonnier volontaire

Quand je t'aime
Tous mes gestes me ramènent
A tes lèvres ou à tes bras
A l'amour avec toi

Quand je t'aime
Il est minuit ou midi
En enfer au paradis
N'importe où mais ensemble
Quand je t'aime
Je ne sais plus si je suis
Un mendiant ou un messie
Mais nos rêves se ressemblent

Quand je t'aime
J'ai des fleurs au bout des doigts
Et le ciel que je te dois
Est un ciel sans étoiles
Quand je t'aime
J'ai la fièvre dans le sang
Et ce plaisir innocent
Me fait peur, me fait mal

Quand je t'aime
J'ai l'impression d'être un roi
Un chevalier d'autrefois
Le seul homme sur la terre
Quand je t'aime
J'ai l'impression d'être à toi
Comme la rivière au Delta
Prisonnier volontaire
Quand je t'aime
Il est minuit ou midi
En enfer au paradis
N'importe où mais ensemble
Quand je t'aime
Je ne sais plus si je suis
Un mendiant ou un messie
Mais nos rêves se ressemblent
Quand je t'aime


=================================
This is such a beautiful song...
Google for the translation...
Makes me want to learn French...

I feel like such a little kid again!

I haven't gotten scrapes in such a long time! But that's what you get when you rollerblade without glasses, knee pads, elbow pads, or wrist guards...

I'm such a wimp, the paaaain is getting to me... How will I ever have kids one day?

Sigh... I truly wish for a break, trying to not feel overwhelmed now. Was trying to use rollerblading as stress release, but that's not such a good idea anymore. =) Hahaha!

Okay, presentation tomorrow, must go to sleep! I WILL make a difference in this world! Even if the only thing was to help someone pick up nails off the floor... Must feeeeel special! Special! not Florence's "special"! ;o)

Whoohooo!! I finally got it! =)

Man, they are seriously the best band ever! You can really feel connected to their songs.

THE TRUE BELL CURVE - The distribution of SUCCESS in life in relationship to AGE follows a true bell curve:
At age 5 success is not peeing in your pants
At age 10 success is having friends
At age 16 success is having your driver's license
At age 20 success is having sex
At age 35 success is having money
At age 50 success is having money
At age 65 success is having sex
At age 70 success is having your driver's license
At age 75 success is having friends
At age 80 success is not peeing in your pants

Hey hey, it's my 300th post! =)

Life will change once again in only 2.5 weeks! Am I excited? I've been too busy to feel excited. I haven't packed yet, whether due to busyness or laziness, I don't know... knowing me, it's probably laziness.

Work is coming along okay... so many things that I know need to be finished, but should I go crazy? I shouldn't expect so much from myself. I'll just do what I can do and be proud of it...

I'm feeling particularly happy about the way I'm keeping in contact with my two favorite professors. One through email (although I'm sure he doesn't remember who I am) and the other through AIM (who probably is tired of me constantly messaging him) =) But yeah, it's cool how these two incredibly nice and great people still want to talk to me! I hope that one day I will be able to make a difference in someone's life like they have done.

What other news? Hmm... I'm 151 pounds now. Been rollerblading after work. It's such a great stress reliever, especially when you skate really fast! =p
Not bad after being 179.5 pounds three years ago, maybe I'll finally reach 150.0 before I start Berkeley. I had thought about posting before and after pictures, but if I, who is used to looking at myself everyday, is surprised at what I looked like at 180 pounds, then my friends (and strangers) will be even more shocked at the difference...so I haven't made up my mind to do it yet and I might not.