June is the beginning of summertime, and Pride season. I've been extremely busy living life, going to the beach, working in the lab, and running about in DC and NYC. I've got thousands of photos I have yet to sort through and post, but it's just not happening yet. Simma!

This weekend is NYC Pride - and a NYC Blowoff promises to be a killer time. Tom's in town, the sun is shining, and good things are happening. I'm a happy man.

Oh! And it's Wimbledon time, too. Seeded players are dropping like flies. No American men are left. :(

Eventually, if you're lucky enough, the big birthdays roll around and force you to reflect back on your life. At least if you're like me. Luckily, Tom and George planned me enough distractions to occupy my attention for the weekend. I had a busy workday on Friday, mediated by the presence of bacon cake from the fabulous Foxy (who used to be a blogger). Mmm.... Bacon. I thought it was delicious and orgasmic - other people not-so-much.

I opened up a bottle of my favorite scotch I received two years ago as a birthday present from George. Running late as always, we hopped in a cab and arrived at Saka Gura for a delicious Japanese dinner. And plenty of sake. Afterward, we joined the party at Snaxx partied like rock stars - with rock stars!

Saturday, my actual birthday, I spent on the phone with family and then lots of lazing about the house. Chillaxin'. Prepping for my "surprise" party later that night at Nowhere Bar... bringing along bacon cake number two! Was I surprised? I was surprised that so many people showed up before I did! We cracked open several boxes of my favorite cupcakes [Red Velvet with cream cheese icing from Billy's Bakery] and lit up candles. They sang. I cried a little. We partied all night long as friends kept appearing to celebrate.

I feel very loved. Thank you to everyone!

Waking up at the crack of noon on Sunday, brunch was required. I rounded up my grad school peeps and we hit the UES Vynl. Bloody Mary, how I love thee. Battling the grey day, we watched dogs play in the puppy gymnasium and sampled some of the pubs in the 'hood. Smooth transition to the Dugout where even MORE friends came out of the woodwork! Instead of the standard Sunday itinerary, we detoured to Truck Stop where I had a remarkably good time. Guess it's always fun to sample something new. A quick stop by the Eagle and street meat and then home to recover.

I'm getting to old for this. Father Tony says such sweet things. I might have some reflecting to do later.

Photos from last weeks Blowoff NYC are online.

We hit Snaxx on Friday night after eating delicious sushi at Sakura Hana. Saturday was a major sleep-in day, but Tom, George and I made it to Jackson Heights to wander around and look at Indian and South American culture.

Saturday night, we launched from Matt's place downtown and then into a mega-crazy line outside Blowoff. Buy your tickets ahead of time and arrive early, kids! Everyone stayed in good spirits, and once we were ushered inside the party was rocking! Off - The - Chain (or hook, or plane, or geranium, or whatever). A LOT of people danced all the way until 4 am when the lights came up.

When we finally woke up on Sunday, we had to fight off mega-strollers for a seat at the Barking Dog cafe. Later on we met up with the crew downtown for typical Sunday night extravaganza and a lot of recapping of the previous night's activities. I love Sunday night, and as the weather gets better they can only get more fun!~

Bring on this weekend!

I love how the GTP molecule represents hydrolysis and energy release with a puff of smoke!

Good News, Everyone! I passed my qualifying exam without too much of an issue. Sure I've got some minor revisions to make, but overall it's a great relief. Now back to doing research. To celebrate, I got the heck outta town and visited Tom in DC for a long St. Patrick's Day weekend. I got to see Bob Mould play live with his band followed by an immensely fun Blowoff.

Clicky Clicky for the Photos!

Riding the Subway last Sunday I entered the shuttle between Grand Central and Times Square. Something was odd... the subway cars were paneled with wood. At first I thought these were some crazy fun old antique cars they brought out for a special event. Then I realized that it was just a vinyl sticker custom fit to every possible surface, including the ceiling.

What a slick re-design, I thought. Until I noticed that the whole thing was a Swiffer ad. Feh.

This covered bridge reminded me of the opening of Beetlejuice so I had my classmate John take the photo as I prepared to drive through it. Everyone in the minivan appreciate the fact that I didn't try to shoot and drive. We had enough drama with accidents on the trip.

We drove up in 3 minivans at different times for scheduling convenience. Due the snowstorm and traffic, our arrivals were out of order. To kill some time, one of the vans went to buy groceries. A frozen parking lot plus several inches of fresh powder equals super-duper slippery surfaces. One step out of the minivan and one girl was rendered screaming and grabbing her foot. Her heel was 90° to the left of where it should be. If it were the NBA they'd be showing the instant replay in slo-mo to see the gore.

After 5 pm on Friday the EMT service in rural Vermont is volunteer. The 18 year-old police office assured us that they would arrive in about 45 minutes. Since they're volunteer, they can administer an IV, but no pain meds, which made their attempt to set the ankle in the ambulance quite remarkable. Oh the screaming.

Hospital.
Morphine.
A very late night.

The next day, the local orthopedic surgeon arrives to announce her tibia is broken in 2 places, her foot in one place and she will require metal plates and screws to hook it all back together. Meanwhile, her ankle is as big as a football. Since we live so close to many hospitals the decision was made to take her back to the Hospital for Special Surgery. Except when they arrive they learn that since the referring hospital was capable of performing the surgery they would not be able to call in an emergency surgeon until Monday. Switch to ER at NY Presbyterian Hospital, which also refuses to admit her because she's been already seen by a different ER for the same problem. So they kind of begin to panic. Eventually we think to advise them to call the Insurance company (we have great insurance really) who works something out where they can get into NYP.

The major surgery had to wait until Monday anyway because they had to do something earlier to reduce the swelling. She'll be in the hospital for a few more days but will eventually recover fully. All this makes me consider what I'd think to do in such a crisis. I'll definitely be talking to my doctor about how to contact him should an emergency like this arise. Second, it makes me wish for Universal Healthcare. Badly.

My grad school class went skiing at Mt. Snow in Vermont this past weekend. We drove there in a snowstorm. The Toyota Sienna minivan sucks in the snow, especially on Steep Hill road with 4 inches of unplowed snow. We made it, not all of us in once piece. There was a foot of fresh snow the next day which was great. More to come on the singular casualty of the trip.

I should have been writing, I know. Instead I took Saturday night off and went to BLOWOFF! It was worth it. The night was incredibly from start to finish. Great tunes, sexy crowd, and all around a good vibe from smiling happy people. Even while the club was trying to shut down people wanted to dance.

Want to see some photos?

The Highline Ballroom really is a great space with an excellent sound system. With a few notable exceptions, nearly everyone I know in the greater New York City area was in attendance, which made it extra special. Big thanks to Bob and Rich for bringing a great DC party to NYC.

Best. Blowoff. Ever!

Blowoff in NYC was a killer time!!! Rami (from Project Runway) showed up, too. Such a sweet guy, but I was glad to get away without having my chest hair draped.

Hey it snowed! I took a break from writing my thesis to go for a walk in the park with Tom. It was magical.

Thesis Proposal is still due on the 29th. 10 Days to go, and I'm not even close to being done. Hopefully it'll be streamlined and good enough that I can use it for an actual grant submission and get a few extra bucks i my wallet to go with the moths and tumbleweeds.

I did manage to find a swank corner office in which to work. Small things.

I celebrated the Year of the Rat with some of my lab mates. The Chinese guy in the lab organized a big dinner at New Yeah Shanghai Deluxe Restaurant. Inside was a tropical theme married to exposed brick. Somehow it worked. Here's what we had for dinner:

1. steamed crab meat and pork juicy bun
2. eight delicious: smoked fish/aromatic beef/ preserved duck/ jelly fish/shanghai dough/aster indicus/ spicy cabbage/ little bamboo shoot with brown sauce
3. jumbo shrimp with ginger and scallion
4. sauteed fish fillet with chinese yam and lily ball in wine sauce
5. sea cucumber with shrimp eggs
6. pork shoulder in honey sauce
7. steam whole fish
8. house crisp duck
9. vegetable in season
10. seafood soup
11. house style fried rice
12. sweet eight jewel taio
13. fruit

The dumplings and the pork shoulder were my favorites. Also of note, the seafood soup had sea sponges in it, which was interesting. I felt like I was eating a loofah. Chinatown was in such disarray after the previous night's festivities. Confetti and streamers of mylar and paper littered the gutters and covered cars. As we left dinner a cleanup crew was outside assisting street-sweepers. Oh, and the NYPD's paddywagon drove by, too!

I didn't really mention it before, but I got a new camera for Christmas. It's a Canon 40D. Right now all I have is a 50mm f1.4 lens and and the awesome Speedlite 580EX II. Review here if you're interested. This might put me ahead in the technology arms race with my Iowa Peeps. Or maybe it bumps me into a different class. I still have my trusty Canon SB800 IS pocket digicam to keep it real.

Anyway, I'm still reading the manual.

My big exam is coming up to let me stay in grad school. Advancement to Candidacy Exam / Qualifying Exam / Thesis Proposal Exam - call it whatever. Written part is due on Feb 29. I have zero words on a page. I can start stressing anytime now.

Superbowl was cool. I have no strong opinion on either team, so it was a quality game where the underdog won - fun for me! Plus we had chili and guacamole and cheese and cannoli and cookies. And dark chocolate m&ms. Mmmmmmm

I almost never post YouTube videos, but I saw a really great video for a Snoop Dogg's song Sensual Seduction. It's pretty much how music videos would be if I were an art director. I would love to find a tutorial for Photoshop to figure out how to do that crazy Fat Albert-esque effect toward the end. No, not the part where he's flying through space on a round bed. The OTHER awesome part.

Aaaaaanndd... Star-Wipe to black.