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Random Interests
Photo Gallery
Pictures of Sedona and Las Vegas
Entertainment
Book reviews, Movie reviews, Misc. Games, none of these things are in this section. They will be later, when I'm not quite as lazy.
Booklist
A list of books I've read recently
Fad of the week
For now, just a list of fads I've gone through over lent.
My Work
Why are you thinking about clicking here?
-Friends & Family-
Life's chock full of good people
Restaurant Review
A few good places to eat
WineList
A list of wines I've tried recently
Pop-up Blocker
This website has lots of popups. Here's a link to download google toolbar, which blocks popups and has more fun functions.
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Marginalia
My recent efforts have been focused on my nuclear medicine site NucMe.com
-- pauloc
As a huge fan of movie theater popcorn, I'm crushed about the news that the artificial butter flavor causes a serious lung disease, bronchiolitis. (In the factory workers who make the stuff.) I put my feelings for the flavoring into this poem:
Ode to Movie Theater Butter Flavor:
On your alter, nuns should genuflect -
Oh sweet artificial butter flavor!
Your oily goodness i'm blessed to savor,
Alas! Lung scarring doctors do dectect
If only I were of the amish sect,
My love of butter would never waver,
No! I like the fake, so I'll be braver
of my safety I show willful neglect
Popcorn is perfect for your oil and salt,
Workers may have died, but it's not your fault.
All you touch becomes gold, like King Midas
even if you cause bronchiolitis
If it's true you're bad, who's next? I shudder
please not "I can't believe its not butter"
-- pauloc
Here's another one of my fad of the week projects: a terrarium. 
It's supposed to be something of an indoor garden, but since I tend to kill any sort of flora I come into contact with, I kept the plants in pots to make it easier to change them out when they die (a guaranteed outcome). I like how it turned out though.
I have some crazy ideas for some bonsai that I want to mess around with, but it would be pretty time consuming and I'm not known for my determination. I'll post whatever I work on, but I'm pretty excited about this upcoming project.
-- pauloc
I thought this article led sounded interesting:
Deadly plague hits Warcraft world
because I'm a nerd and I liked that game. But the really interesting tidbit came from the last paragraph:
The "Corrupted Blood" plague is not the first virtual disease to break out in online worlds. In May 2000 many players of The Sims were outraged when their game characters died because of an infection contracted from a dirty virtual guinea pig.
"Dirty virtual guinea pig" disease? /insert virtual Richard Gere joke here
-- pauloc
I love the taste of good cheese: stilton, brie, aged cheddar, pecorino. But why oh why does the best cheese always have to smell like I'm eating delicious cheese in a room where someone farted?
I'm in a strange mood today; I know exactly what I want. About everything in general. After finishing class, I went to the mall and decided on what clothes I'll start buying as soon as I see them on sale (mostly business casual, but with some interesting shoes). I knew what I wanted to eat (cali rolls with unagi and black tea) and that was my dinner. And I knew what I wanted to start: Quicksilver, a book by Neal Stephenson. But for the life of me, I couldn't get the book. I went to two Borders bookstores and my local library, but they were all out of stock. It was strange because I am rarely driven to pursue anything and being denied when I tried was actually kind of satisfying in a weird way. I wouldn't have thought so, but to me at least, it is better to know what you want and not get it than my usual not knowing what I want at all.
Well, it's been about 7 months since my last post here. Eh, quick catchup time I guess... I got married, honeymooned in Playa Del Carmen (and left a couple weeks before the hurricane hit there), switched to mac, got that darn HPLC to work at my lab, and now I'm trying to figure out what the heck to do next. How in the world does everyone figure out what they are going to do with their lives? I'm going with the "that looks like a job that pays more than the worker deserves and that I could do for awhile without killing myself" method of deciding. That would be pharmacy, nuclear medicine, or going into the biotech industry. But I may just go the opposite route and get a job that is basically indentured servitude and from what I hear can be quite miserable: grad school. Think and pray I guess. It's gotten me this far...
I've gone blog crazy! Here's another one for you to look at: shotblogger. I just got a new digital camera and I'm learning all the camera basics now. The pictures all look like crap, go check them out! So far the learning process has been painful, and I've been making every mistake possible. I take the pictures and I'm happy, until I go home and see how they turned out. But it's been fun anyway; I guess I'm a massachist at heart.
-- pauloc
All of my web efforts are being directed to my other site. The only thing that I have kept up to date on this site has been my booklist, although I want to get some new pictures for my ratings.
-- pauloc
 I've been posting quite a bit on my other site, clayblogger. I have been working on clay figures for bush and kerry as well as some random bodies that I can transfer their heads to. Here's a picture of Kerry in Bruce Lee's body. Check out the other site for more pictures. -- pauloc
Check out my new blog, Clayblogger. I'm trying to create a new layout for this page, and I'm experimenting with a blog style for the ease of use. I still want to be able to make html pages though, so I'm just trying new things. -- pauloc
Busy month, kinda. I took the GRE General test on September 20th, and it went better than expected. I got a 1470 combined math/verbal score.  I haven't gotten my writing scores back, but I think they went okay. I am trying to study for the GRE Biology test. It is on December 11th, but I haven't signed up yet. The test covers a lot of material. I've gotten another couple of pictures of my clay guys. Here is one of my clay guys, and one of me and my clay guys. -- pauloc
So I'm gonna take the GREs in 2 weeks. Who knows if I even want to go to gradschool anyways. But here I am studying like I'm gonna take the SATs. (I'm not supposed to start a sentance with "but," right? But why not? That's how I talk.) So that's been filling my time. That, and Warcraft. Lots and lots of World of Warcraft.
-- pauloc
I finally got some pictures to show you! Click on the picture to see a zoomed in view.  This is the cake topper that I made for Janis and Mikee. The topper that I was so stressed out about. It turned out better than I had expected, and people at the wedding seemed to like it. Here's a closer pic: Now that it's all done, I seem to have forgotten how much of a pain-in-the-ass it was to make. I want to make some more stuff, but I need to find something else to make. I'll eventually try to make Me and Grace, but maybe later on...
-- pauloc
Hawaii went well. Lots of family time, and the wedding was beautiful. I managed to complete the clay guys just in time (and with Grace's help) and they were a big hit at the wedding. I was so nervous that they'd fall off the cake that I don't have a good picture of them! I'll post some thumbnail pictures soon, and I'm trying to get some pictures of the cake toppers from my family.
-- pauloc
One week left and I haven't done anything else with the clay cake toppers! Oh man, this can really suck if I don't finish Janis' face by this weekend. Hmm.. I need a plan "B."
PS: Mouse surgeries are going well...
-- pauloc
I just finished that Ludlam book, The Prometheus Deception and I have to admit, I'm pretty disapointed. I really liked The Bourne Identity and figured this would be similar enough. But about halfway through the book, I didn't really care what happened to the good guy or who the bad guys "really" were. In fact, I started to see the hypocrisy of the main character being a killer, just like the rest of the bad guys. No different at all, so why should I not hope that he gets killed just like all the others that I read about him snuffing out? But I needed a trashy thriller book after The Perks of Being a Wallflower. I guess you win some you lose some.
-- pauloc
I finished that book, The Perks of Being a Wallflower. Wow. It is just fantastically good. I think I'm going to buy a copy for each of my cousins. Not that they'll read it, but maybe if it sits on their shelf for long enough and they get really bored, they'll pick it up and enjoy it. I like to think so anyway...
-- pauloc
ARRRRRG! I took about two dozen pictures on my newly fixed digital camera today that I really liked. They were a bunch of random shots of me and Grace  hanging out. For the most part they were strangely framed and oddly focused, but I liked the way they turned out. But I ended up accidentally deleting them. I was pretty upset, but that stuff happens, even with real film.
I started reading a book that Ryan loaned me called The Perks of Being a Wallflower. I've only read part of it, but it is already really really good. Classic good. I can't wait to keep reading it.
Moving right along in the list of random things that I'm trying to fit into one entry, if you haven't noticed yet, my Booklist page has been updated and ratings icons are being added. The ones there now are just temporary until I can get the bushicons to be a consistent size and quality. I'll probably end up working on that at work tomorrow, then feeling guilty about wasting my lab's time. We'll see...
As for working out, I have been working out very regularly. I need to shape up for my trip to Hawaii. And that eliptical cardio machine is much better than the treadmill. I don't want to jinx myself, but I'm hoping that I can workout regularly at least until the trip.
-- pauloc
Grace had a day off today, so she visited me at work. We ate lunch at this Japanese restaurant called Manpuku.  It's a fantastic little restaurant. It's in a neighborhood surrounded by lots of great restaurants like Naan 'n Curry and Gordo's.  Grace ordered a Beef Don and I ordered a Yakiniku Ramen and a dragon roll. That was the best ramen that I've ever eaten. Afterwards Grace went shopping at the Bay St. Mall while I finished off the little remaining workday. This was the least busy week of my work ever.  Although next week will pick up with a new project; mouse brain surgery! Those are some small brains to be working on. We'll see how it goes...
-- pauloc
Here's a view of my work in progress. I have a couple of pictures of the clay cake toppers for my sisters wedding in my Entertainment page. The wedding is in less than a month, and I've not even finished the groom's head. I can't tell if its good or terrible.
-- pauloc
I've actually been a little busy for the past month. Nothing very exciting, just work and figuring out wedding plans. Let's do the monthly roundup. My last post was about a videogame called World of Warcraft. I am a beta tester for that game, but the latest build won't install in my computer so I haven't been playing. (I've tried everything to fix it, damn error #131!!!!) As for work, tomorrow I will be done running behavioral experiments. At least for awhile, until Mike gets started on some new ones. I've been working on data, but with no deadlines for projects and without Mike specifically asking for data sets, it is difficult to stay focused. Next week I'm going to observe some microdialysis surgeries so that I can learn how to do them.  yay! I have also been working on some cake topper figurines for my sister's wedding. Wow, mine are going to suck! I'll post what I have. (hint: not much) Let's see, what else... I finially finished another ant book; I'm gonna update my book list and redesign it so that it takes less work to input new titles. (hint2: It'll look crappier but be easier for me to do. Sucks to be you) Finally, I've been working on some Photoshop stuff. I just learned how to feather, as you can see from the out of place, but fabulously feathered picture of my girlfriend and her college roommate. That's about it for now. I want to post more often but I am held hostage by my own laziness.
-- pauloc
I've been playing a video game for awhile now. I actually got in as an early tester for the game, because it hasn't been released yet. It's called World of Warcraft. You create a character and run around in the online world and meet up with other people who also created characters. It's based on a medieval fantasy world and you work on quests with others. Tons of fun. I play for an average of 1-2hrs a night now. I really should be getting real work done. Oh well...
-- pauloc
So that weekend that I was talking about last post was good. Stinson Beach is beautiful, but a bit foggy and chilly. And the road there is car-sickness inducing. You drive right along the coast, up and down hills and curving around cliffs. Really amazing view, if you have the stomach for the ride. Grace doesn't. I was getting pretty dizzy. So I don't think we'll be planning many more trips up there. But that was about 2 months ago. In that time, I picked up jogging, only to then stop jogging 1 week later. (It turns out, I hate running!) I've been reading a little more, although my reading of the Bible has slowed down quite a bit. I have a presentation to give at work about the data I've been collecting for the last year and a half. It's the first time I've had to present in front of the lab, so I'm nervous. I mean, right now the people in my lab think I'm reasonably smart. So this presentation is my shot at reducing overall lab respect for me. Whoooo! It's good for me though. I've been working here for a year and a half and I haven't read any real background journal articles about the stuff I'm working on. But now I'm reading lots. So apparently, nothing short of the threat of public humilation could get me to start reading.
-- pauloc
I have a great weekend planned out. Tomorrow morning, Grace and I will wake up early and go to a Chinese breakfast place that serves porridge. From there, we're going to drive to Stinson Beach which is about an hour north of where I live.  To the right is a picture of Point Reyes from the official Stinson Beach website. Hopefully I'll have my own pictures up before the weekend is out. On Sunday, I'm planning on seeing my large family. Large as in numerically large, cause we are a skinny people.
-- pauloc
Let's see here... It's been about three months since I last posted an entry here. Nothing much has been going on with me. To sum up the past few months: I got baptised a Christian, I got engaged, and I've moved to a new apartment with Grace and an old jr. highschool friend. Pictures will be posted. (Grace's ring picture at least, because I'm proud of that one.) I really want to start posting more regularly, especially pictures. I was planning to go to SF and take pictures with Ben and Ryan and then post those. Also I was thinking of converting this site into a Christian site, but more likely I'll just start up another site for that. Actually why don't I just post up all my intentions here and you can count them as done? Because that's probably the closest you'll get to seing them actually done.
-- pauloc
Well, that's just a little depressing. I just noticed that those ad banners that angelfire pasted to the top of my page are related to the content of that page. Lo and behold, in the banner on the top of my fad of the week page are two ads for pocket quicken and two adds for ADD treatment. Angelfire knows what I need more than my own mother.
-- pauloc
I have to send a fax today. A fax! The crappiest way to send information to anybody. Its the 8track of communication. Think about it. First came radio, then vinyl records, then the 8track, then tapes, then CDs. We still listen to radio, love vinyl, tape decks come standard in cars, and CDs are the current music standard. But nobody uses the 8track anymore. Why am I being forced to use a fax machine? Oh the lengths I'll go to play a videogame. More on that later, probably a lot later...
-- pauloc
Mole, Mole, Mole! (I'm now sure you're thinking of Enrique Iglesias, but you were supposed to read that with the accent. As in the Mexican dish, mole. Sure, it should have an accent symbol over the e, but I don't know how to do that. Anyways, back to the post)  My best friend's girlfriend is going back to Mexico tomorrow. She made a delicious Mexican dinner for Ryan, Grace and me. I had chicken with mole sauce, black beans, rice and for dessert, a rice pudding. (And grace made a fantastic pumpkin pie.) Them's some good eats. I am ridiculously full right now, and it's three hours after dinner. More pictures of dinner later...
-- pauloc
Oh the promises I break. I really mean to keep updating this site. And by updating I don't mean posting my itenerary. I actually feel like writing and putting up pictures and links to funnies, but I haven't done a thing. It's kind of an irony, really, because when I started this site I had nothing to write about. I worked, then went home, then went to work. Now that I actually have hobbies to write about, I don't bother to post. Oh well. Maybe a part of it is that I haven't been entirely honest with you, reader of this blog. (You actually being me, the only person who reads this site.) One of the things that I've gone through since starting this site is my conversion to Christianity. Not the most popular of religions right now seeing that the "war on terror" looks to most to be a Christian Crusade, but reading the bible and finding a great church really opened me up to the message. I'll post more about this in a separate page later. (And since I'm now a Christian, I wouldn't lie to you, right?) I've also been regularly going to my gym; unlike my last gym I actually look forward to going to my workout. And I've been cooking almost daily. Work has been good, I'll post a nice poster of stuff that I work on in my work page at a later date. I'm gearing up to play lots of videogames this thanksgiving, and I'm hoping to make some lego animations over winter break. Here's a link to a site that has some lego animation of a much higher quality than I hope to make. (link) More links to come for a few more things I've been interested in...
-- pauloc
Let's see here...So I've been climbing at the gym, then working out (drinking protein powder too!), I've been programming using the Python programing language for work. Pretty good stuff. I'm planning to go climbing tonight with my cousins. Tomorrow I'm heading down to LA.
-- pauloc
Sweet Headline:
Monkeys Control Robotic Arm with Brian Implants
Cool technology, but I'm not sure its a good idea to give monkeys control of robots. Thats about in line with granting opposible thumbs to dolphins.
-- pauloc
Mink eat each other after animal rights break-in
An animal rights group's plan to free 10,000 mink from a farm turned deadly after many of the emancipated mustelids became cannibals while others went on a carnivorous feeding frenzy.
Those wacky ecoterrorists!
-- pauloc
I got a membership to a rockwall gym! So in theory, I will be muscular and fit in no time flat. Now I won't have to hang out with fatsos like you!
-- pauloc
Great weekend. I watched lots of Family Guy, went to Berkeley,  ate at Blondie's and Fenton's, spent a day rockwall climbing (more about that later on the "fad of the week" page,) made a clay figure of Stewie, and read more about ants. I'll go into more detail tomorrow, it's time for bed...
-- pauloc
I'm tired of writing now. Lots of stuff in the links to the left if you're really bored.
-- pauloc
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