A Place to Call My Own!!!

I realize that my blogging has significantly decreased since I began way back when in August (I'll let Dr. D run the stats on these figures), but I'm pretty sure the amount of school work I have been doing since then has significantly increased as well (I'm guessing a significant interaction in these stats).

Nevertheless, my life in that amount of time has been exciting while being a complete blur. One of the exciting events is having my own place and having to move in (partially) less than three weeks from now. Exciting but nerve wrecking as well. However, the place I have is really sweet and to demonstrate, check out these images of my new empty apartment in Small City, New York! When I get there, rest assured I will not forget the small town people B-man and I'll hook up the Xbox live to play Halo 3 with you Matty!!!

My dining room and a portion of my fridge/freezer.

My kitchen. Check out those black counter tops and new wood cabinets!!

No castle is complete without a throne!!

My relatively spacious living room.

My community gym. I believe my in-ground pool lies outside the windows.

The building I will be working in. I really cannot wait!

The river that is right outside of my building. It was beautiful late in the fall.....

...but I guess I'll have to get a little use to this!

The Craziest Month Ever!!!

Although it has been the craziest month of my life, it has also been the most productive and exciting month as well. Since we last talked, I presented my research on brain injury in San Diego, CA at the Society for Neuroscience Meeting (my last representing Small Town University, PA) and all went very well. Less than a week later, Sneks and I traveled to the University of Small City, NY to interview for a post-doctoral position in a lab that again studies the brain. I am happy to say that I have yet again signed my life away for 2 years working for this guy that has amazing research, an amazing wife, and an absolutely adorable baby boy!

The Building I will be working in is overlooking this river. It is absolutely beautiful!!!

While interviewing, Sneks (who is an absolute sweetheart) helped me find a place to finally call my own (pictures soon to come). I found a sweet 1 bedroom apartment approximately 8 minutes from work, 6 minutes from Best Buy, Circuit City, Target, Wegmans, Wal-mart, JCPenny and Macy's and only 3 minutes away from a Wonder Bread/Hostess outlet store. Dare I say....HEAVEN!!!!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYONE!!!!!!!

Weekend at Bushkill Falls

The weather has been absolutely amazing the past 2 weeks here in PA. To try and take advantage of this fantastic weather, Sneks and a good friend (and colleague) of ours Mike B. and his family went hiking with us at Bushkill Falls this past weekend. The falls were beautiful, the leaves have just started to change their color, and all around a great day with Mike and family. Here are some pictures of our fun-filled hiking adventure!

Sneks and I in front of the main waterfall at Bushkill Falls.

Mike, Stacy, and his adorable kids.

A closer view of the main falls.

We all agreed, the water looked like Guinness!

A look over the valley.

Mike and I talk business, the kids talk lunch.

Honestly, where are we going again????

The Red Light of Death

Sadly, after 11 months of hardcore use and abuse, my lame Xbox360 system gave me the RED LIGHT OF DEATH.
What does that mean? Four to six weeks of pure hell for me personally. It is probably a blessing in disguise, since I should be writing my thesis and preparing for my defense coming in January. It is just such crap to have a new system die so quickly. Good thing I have the 3yr. plan on it so it won't cost me a dime. Nevertheless, here are the top 5 games I wish I could be playing in between hanging out with Sneks and typing my thesis.

Halo 3: I just want to know how the damn story ends. This game is about the destruction of Earth and for that matter, the universe by this alien religious colt known as the Covenant. Great graphics, great music, great fun!

Gears of War: Locust have taken over the Earth from beneath our feet and your character (Fenix) is one of the few remaining soldiers that is capable of destroying these insects and saving the planet from destruction.

Bioshock: You are a survivor of a plane crash that somehow ends up at the bottom of the ocean in this underwater civilization. You gotta love the science; you inject yourself with recombinant DNA that causes you to shoot electricity and yes, even killer bees right out of your hands!

Madden NFL football 08: It's football. That's all I got. Great graphics and sadly, the Bills are still not that good in the game :(

Guitar Hero 2: I cannot (but I am trying to learn how to) play guitar. So why not use an over-complicated version of the old SIMON game to fulfill my rock n' roll dreams????

A Weekend in Atlantic City

This past weekend, Sneks and I went with my family to Atlantic City. Nobody won big (I lost $35) but it seemed as if everyone had a blast. It was probably the nicest of weekends to go and walk the boardwalk considering the unseasonable like temperatures we have been having on the east coast the past few weeks. Here are some pics from AC.

Welcome to the AC baby!



I lost $20 here in 10 minutes.

My fav Uncle Steve greeting everyone at Trump Plaza

I have no idea why I am giving the 3/4 bird here

Sneks feeding the slots her millions of dollars earned as a graduate student

Uncle Steve just won 100......nickels!!!!!!

The smaller version of the Las Vegas dancing water fountain

Best October Weather Ever!!!!

The end of a perfect day with the perfect girl!

It's Officially Done!!!

It's true, I have finally completed all experiments and/or data collection for my PhD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It took 5 years in the lab, many frustrating and failed experiments and many nights of taking my frustrations out on some poor soul in one of the three Halo games, but it is finally nearing the end!!! Time to Celebrate!!!!!!!!

Another failed experiment????? Time to play Halo again. How would you like a face full of bazooka, ass???

Happy Birthday Little H!!!!

Happy 3rd Birthday to Little H!!!!

This past Sunday, Sneks and I went to celebrate my best friend's son's birthday. He just turned three and is one of the cutest kids ever. Here are some pictures from the party.

Little H diving into the cake.

Little H and is his awesome mom Rach opening birthday cards. Notice the Barry like tongue sticking out as he is working hard to tear the paper.

Dad hoping Little H gets those fun plastic guns for his B-Day..........

Success!!!! Now the B-man and Rach's dad can play together in the backyard!!!

Little H and Rach's sister and cousin waiting to eat that delicious cake.

My Entire Team Sucks

After calming myself down to the point where I am able to write this blog, I find myself still fuming over the meltdown of the New York Mets.

Just in case you didn't notice from the title, the word Mets no longer stands for Metropolitans. Oh No, I believe it actually means My Entire Team Sucks. After a great start to the season which held postseason promise from day 1, the Mets decided to forget how to catch, throw and hit a tiny round object known as a baseball the last month of the season. The worst part about this, the DAMN PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES were celebrating a "monumental comeback" as the Mets were having their "monumental collapse." They literally fell flat on their faces, leaving all Mets fans feeling angry, bewildered, sad, and did I say angry!!!!

First off, since when does Jose Reyes not run out groundballs? Is this the influence of their cocky self-centered first base coach Ricky Henderson (who once told me to get out of his face when I asked him for an autograph after the Mets won a game by 10 at Philly back in 1999.....Mike Piazza was more than happy to give me his autograph that same day). And a word of advice for Tom Glavine.....it would probably be a good idea to not step foot in NYC for the rest of your life. 1/3 of an inning and I believe it was 6 or 7 runs given up??????? I wouldn't know, I refused to watch this debacle before it ever occurred. I'm wondering if the Atlanta Braves did not pay him off to have the worst performance of his career that very day. And if Omar does not get off his ass and pick up pitching for his team next year, his head will be rolling in the streets of NY quicker than the Mets lost their 7 game lead in the east this year.

I guess what I am trying to say is, I am not sad that the Mets did not make the playoffs. They spared me the 3 games of aggravation of watching fail miserably in the postseason just like they did last year (I hate you Yagina Molina or however you spell your name) Instead, I am pissed that they decided not to even try playing the last month of the season.

You think you have it bad, think of your fans.......ASS

Even Casey is wondering what the Hell happen.

Tom Glavine in his true colors.

This pretty much sums it all up for Mets fans.

The Roller Coaster Known as Life

The past couple of weeks have been, as the title states, quite the roller coaster ride. It began with quite the high in that I am 99% confident that I will have a place in small city NY to call home (and by that I mean a job in a lab) for at least 2 years with an up and coming scientist. This scientist, who has been at the University of Small City for a year now, studies several unique properties of the brain and how it differs between men and women.

This was immediately followed up with the very sad news that my loving and caring grandmother past away at the age of 88 exactly one week ago. The funeral was very difficult to get through since most of the people there were not speaking to one another because of the green eyed monster that has consumed them since 1997.

My spirits were immediately lifted when I realized that I have just 40 more base pairs to sequence for this particular mRNA (which I have been working on for nearly 3 years) to finally be completed with experiments at Small Town University. I am constantly typing my thesis in hopes to distribute, defend and deposit by early January. Also, the proofs for my last publication was just sent to me today!!

Needless to say, November and December will be the craziest months of my life, but I look forward to finishing one chapter of my life and beginning a new one soon!

Time to Teach!!!

Hi all! This is now Day 2 of 2 when I was asked to fill in for a certain professor and teach the Elements of Biochemistry class. Day 1 went extremely well (despite the fact that the projector shut down on me half way through the class and I was forced to go old school and use the chalkboard). I had no complaints from any students, and both professors who sat in on the lecture (including the chair of the department) had nothing but complements for me immediately following the class. Here's hoping Day 2 will go as well as Day 1. Yeah for Biochemistry! Updates soon to come!!!!!!!!!!

Another Weekend, Another Adventure

This past weekend, Sneks and I visited James and his awesome girlfriend Natal in the big apple. Sneks and I went to the Mets game (those losers suck, only 31/2 games up in the east), sailed past the statue of liberty by the Staten Island fairy, hit up times square and the best dinner place ever.....Burgers and Cupcakes!!! Check out the pics!!!