Since my laptop is on its way back to Calvin, I haven't been going in Potter St. to work. This is bad! This means I sleep as late as I want, watch TV, eat, lounge around, take naps!

Just then, I made whole wheat banana walnut cinnamon mini-muffins!! SO GOOD! I'm getting pretty good at cooking and baking now. =)

ELIZABETH'S SCREEN IS BROKEN. I'M SAD AND FRUSTRATED, I WANNA GO HOME AND NOT WORRY ABOUT WORK FOR A BIT.

Random pic of the day : November 28, 2001 : Tammy and I on a lunch date in front of Royce

Aloooooooooooooone.

And working on a Friday night.

And will be working throughout the weekend.

Life has not changed much. Just more stress.

Treadmill
----------
Calories : 401
Miles : 3.29
Time : 35.00

* First time I ran 3 miles straight at 6mph

3 miles at 6mph = 30 minutes
0.29 miles = 5 minutes of cool-down

So I'm still only able to do around 10 minute miles comfortably. How the heck do people train for marathons?? Even for like a 5 hour marathon, that's still over 5 miles an hour continuously to finish. I gotta ask my friend Mary about this; but I'm pretty sure it's just train, train, train! I don't push myself often enough to extend my stamina. But I don't think I'll ever run a marathon, too punishing on the body, perhaps a 5k or half-marathon. =)

I was just thinking, have I ever really, like seriously, sat down to think of why I am investing so much time and life into graduate school? I didn't even think of any alternatives! I haven't!

How the heck did I end up here? Did many people push me along the way? Do I just like to copy what I see? I get motivated by strange things; I can't even tell whether I am doing something because I really like it or because I think I should really like it. But for sure, I know that once I get fixated on something, I'm pretty persistent and loyal to that thing. Enthuuusiastic is what I am. But why?? Maybe I should be thankful that I've been lucky to be following good people and good fields all this time.

Eh, I just want a simple life. Happiness, health and love. =)

I don't think I'm worth anyone's time thinking about, so why am I afraid of gossip behind my back? I've been trying to keep certain things outside of the department as to not hurt anyone, but now it's slowly spreading, and I can't ever guarantee whether that person is leaky or not. Hopefully not, but still... some issues in my life are significant to me, but I guess it shouldn't really be that important; so I feel awkward when I want to talk about it, but it shouldn't be a big deal! Oh gosh, now I gots people thinking weird things!

Anyhoo, nerdy skool girl talking here, trying to resolve some trivial issues in life. =)

College student gunned down in Berkeley

Scary, I just found out a 19 year old woman was shot and killed just two blocks from my apartment at 1:45am Sunday. I'm sure I was still awake at that time, oh my gosh... she died such a short distance from me and I didn't even know... Man, I got used to living here and didn't always keep in mind that it's so dangerous in Berkeley. Very scary, I seriously have to remember to try to be safe and not walk by myself at night too much. =(

Fage Yogurt
http://www.fage.gr/

I just walked to Berkeley Bowl and got :

Strained Greek yogurt with honey


and

Strained Greek yogurt, 2% fat


and


Greek yogurt made with sheep and goat's milk


I tried the first one with honey, and it's yummy!! So much better than the yogurt I'm used to, i.e. Yoplait, Dannon, crappy supermarket brands... I remember when Roya used to put homemade yogurt on everything! Dinner, meat, veggies... Now I know it's good enough to eat with anything. The texture is so much nicer than the other kinds of yogurt; it's thicker, less sour, and creamier, AND WAY MORE EXPENSIVE! So I don't think I'll be eating too much of this anytime soon. I'm sure it's way cheap in Greece but when they gotta import this stuff, the price shoots way up.

~ If you trust me and would like to try it yourself, they sell it at Trader Joe's. =)

Woo, living near SF is faaantastic!

WOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!

I had such a fun time today!!

My ex-roomie Jasmine picked me up in her hot yellow Mustang convertible and we went back to her apt. Then we and other ex-roomie Kristen and her sister Lindsay drove through Berkeley with the top down and all the way to Marin County where we stopped at a really nice outside shopping mall. I got this cute short skirt from Gap for only 7 bucks and daaaamn, I can't believe how tone and thinner my legs have gotten from running so much! Me happy! =) Anyhoo, after we got the car back from valet, we drove to Sausolito, beautiful!!! Walked through shops by the bay, lot of people and boats sailing, so nice!! Then!! we drove slowly on the Golden Gate bridge. The fog was so heavy, we couldn't see the water!!! But man, what an experience to be on that bridge in a convertible and gangsta rap blasting everywhere! =) Guys were waving! So fun... Then we drove to Pier 39, with rap still really loud and parked so we could get to Bubba Gump's seafood restaurant. Food was good, but man, did Jasmine have a good night! We faked Lindsay's birthday so Jasmine could lead the waiters into singing this cool happy birthday song to her. Jasmine got her eyes on this hot black waiter and they flirted for a bit, but he wouldn't ask for her number or give her his. Jasmine said this was b/c the guys in the Bay area are all arrogant due to the fact there are abundance of women here so the guys don't have to work for it. So Jasmine tested this theory but giving him her number and she was right, that dude was expecting Jasmine to give him her number. Gosh, I would never have done that in a million years. But it's incredible how the three of us are so different yet we now have so much fun because Berkeley put us together! =)

Since all I've got left of cable is the Food Network, I've been watching a lot (and learning how to cook!!). Anyhoo, I'm just wondering how Giada of Everyday Italian keeps so fit while I shudder at how much butter that the Barefoot Contessa uses (she's not so fit...) Anyways, just a thought. Giada is real pretty but tiny and her facial expressions are sometimes faked quite often. Watching so many cooking shows is having a good effect on me, I've been getting fresh produce this summer and cooking all sorts of good food. =)

Meet my new digital camera!! Dinky eh? All the better to sneak shots in! =) Yaaaay!

Aww, fudge... that didn't last long... I'm regressing...

I feel free! Goodness, something has lifted from me.

Happy happy!

"Things come and go, seasons change, people grow" ~ Mya

I'm so dumb, I took Amos to go jogging on the treadmill this morning and he wouldn't wake up! I thought Amos died! So I was forced to run 2.5 miles without him. I'm sure I could have done more if he was okay.

Anyways, silly me, he ain't dead yet! I had put him on hold and didn't realize it. Poopies, but I'm really glad he's alive still. I wonder when his number is up? Well, sssssh! I don't wanna be talking replacements when he's still with me. =)

Thanks very much Justin, Amos has been a constant companion to me for almost three years.

It feels so weird to me when I read people's blogs to find out they just got married. I'm sure you won't be finding that out anytime soon you read my blog. But at least, I realize that I'm getting old and will have to do some growing up mentally to catch up to my physical aging.

"Bring in the rain, bring in the shine,
Let it go, stop wasting time,
I'm calling out to you,
Don't chase the sun, don't race the sky"

So... waking up to techno music everyday is not as great as it used to be. Seriously interrupted my REM during the weekends cuz I forgot to turn it off...

WAIT A SEC! I love this song!! (start dancing...)

Oh man, once I found the lyrics, they look pretty lame, but the song and beat are pretty nice...

Stonebridge ft. Therese : Put Em High

Baby, let me, need me,
those were, the words you, gave me,
never, felt this way, before,
your love, tastes like, ah-haaaa,

And baby i don't care
where you've been before
just Put 'em high,
Put 'em high
make the best of it,
just a little bit,
just Put 'em high,
And Put 'em high

ba-ber-bom-bom
ba-ber-bom-bom
ba-ber-bom-bom
ba-ber-bom-bom

ba-ber-bom-bom
bom-ba-ber-bom-bom
Put 'em high
Push it high
ba-ber-bom-bom
bom-ba-ber-bom-bom
Put 'em high
Push it high

Baby, let me, need me,
those were, the words you, gave me,
never, felt this way, before,
your love, tastes like, ah-haaaa,

And baby i don't care
where you've been before
just Put 'em high,
Put 'em high
make the best of it,
just a little bit,
just Put 'em high,
And Put 'em high

ba-ber-bom-bom
ba-ber-bom-bom
ba-ber-bom-bom
ba-ber-bom-bom

ba-ber-bom-bom
ba-ber-bom-bom
Put 'em high
Push it high
ba-ber-bom-bom
bom-ba-ber-bom-bom
Put 'em high
Push it high

"So I think if I were advising a young person today,
I would have some reservations about advising him
or her to go into statistics, but probably, in the end,
I would say, “Take statistics, but remember that
the great adventure of statistics is in gathering and
using data to solve interesting and important real
world problems.”

~ Leo Breiman

Sadly, Professor Breiman passed away on Tuesday. I never had the chance to meet him, but he was truly a brilliant statistician, who made significant contributions to data mining, classification, etc... -> CART, Random forests... I'm in such awe of the great and fascinating life that he led.

I've been trying to find Jenn Cuneta - Come Rain, Come Shine. Anyone have?

A prostitute is someone who would love you
No matter who you are, or what you look like.

~ South Park

"I am afraid to show you who I really am, because if I show you who I really am, you might not like it--and that's all I got."

~ Sabrina Ward Harrison

Walking back from my office today at 5:30pm, I noticed a guy lying on the grass in the sun holding his baby above him playfully. Sigh... such a beautiful sight. It came into my mind that he had such a different priority than I had at that very moment and for the majority of moments. I wish I had such a priority; could I even handle it? Probably not, but someday, it would be such feelings that I have not experienced. Such love in life... quite a strange feeling to know that someday I could possibly be someone's mother. Am I living a life today that my children would be proud of? I'm sure they will be thinking how lame and nerdy their mom was in graduate school, or perhaps one day they will be walking the same path that I just walked today... Who will be their father? I have no idea; that is also something completely blank to me at this point. Or I just might end up being that crazy cat lady who lives alone and dies alone (with her cats)... though that won't happen, I am not a cat person. Well, someone better show up to my funeral at least...

My daddy's orchid

Take into account that great love and great achievements involve great risk.

The above was the first line in instructions for life that my friend Kathy forwarded to me in an email. I think I've achieved some small things in life, but I don't think I put much risk into them. The bad thing with me is that I rarely attempt things that based on the limited knowledge I have about it would be undoable or end in rejection. And then I realized that if I had truly known how hard it was to get into the graduate program in berkeley stats, I probably would not have even attempted. The lucky thing for me was that I was naive when I applied. But that is NOT risk! Naiveness and ignorance about the risk involved was what made me apply. My previously wrong understanding of it was that it would be easy to get into graduate school, especially in an area like statistics that no one could possibly take an interest enough to spend an additional five years of their lives to study. Little did I know... Now I just marvel how incredibly lucky I am to even be here.

So, what else am I not risking for better things in life? I consider myself pretty happy nowadays, what else could I possibly need that would require great risks? I guess I'm afraid to even answer that question. I don't react well to big changes. I know I get used to involuntary changes, but changes of my own accord?? Oh nooo!! So...will everything in life just fall into my lap just fine and dandy or will I have to start making myself very uncomfortable with huge risks? Oh, I'm so not brave...

Woo, even prettier!

Working on a Sunday and I finally got to fitting 4 parameter logistic curves to at least three sets of data together! Woohoo!

This song has been stuck in my head for two days! =)

Seasons Of Love lyrics

Artist - Rent soundtrack
Album - Rent
Lyrics - Seasons Of Love

five hundred twenty five thousand six hundred minutes

five hundred twenty five thousand moments so dear

five hundred twenty five thousand six hundred minutes

how do you measure? measure a year

in daylights,

in sunsets,

in midnights,

in cups of coffee,

in inches, in miles, in laughter, in strife

in five hundred twenty five thousand six hundred minutes

how do you measure a year in a life?

how about love?

how about love?

how about love?

measure in love...

seasons of love...

seasons of love...

(female soloist)

five hundred twenty five thousand six hundred minutes

five hundred twenty five thousand journeys to plan

five hundred twenty five thousand six hundred minutes

how do you measure a life of a woman or a man

(male soloist)

in truths that she learned

or in times that she cried

in bridges he burned

or the way that she died

(all)

its time now to sing out though

the story never ends

let's celebrate remember a year in a life

of friends

remember the love...

(oh you gotta remember the love)

remember the love...

(oh yeah, its a gift from up above)

remember the love...

(sing out, give out, measure your life

in looooooove...!!!)

seasons of love...

seasons of love...