Arrived In London

Hello my loves,

Please first forgive my spelling and grammar, I'm so tired that I accidentally referred to myself in the third person earlier. oy vey. It was a fly by the seat of my pants beginning to the fly by the seat of my pants trip. I made it in plenty of time to the airport, but lovely Delta was so late leaving LAX that I had to run through the Minneapolis airport to get to my flight...and then had an asthma attack, which was fine, but I kept having to explain the the girl sitting next to me that I didn't have the plague...that combined with my albuterol jitters, and she probably thought I was a crack-head with the plague. Anyway, the flight wasn't bad, and was made wonderful by a certain Indian flight attendant who scrounged all this salad for me, and even gave me the parts of his meal that I could eat (the fancy meal on the china, oh my). As usual my peeps are always on the sidelines to help me out of my little situations. Thanks! This act of kindness also was a good start to my trip making me a little less nervous about the potential evil intentions of "strangers."

Landing was easy as usual. Got my stuff, bought my oyster card, and then took the tube to green park. I got out, walked, found something that looked familiar and then went to get some fruit which I ate at pickadilly square. Then off to some other square with a huge fountain, and then to the Thames. Let me tell you, today was a perfect day in london. Warm, sunny, breezy...perfect. (I need to figure out my luggage situation, cause the hauling got old pretty fast). Then I walked South down the side of the river and stopped at the Queen's walk where there was this little "beach" where kids were playing. I of course took pictures of their cuteness. Then I found this cute little gallery area that had a huge seating area made of carved wooden animal chairs. I was happy to take a rest, and all the kids that came by really enjoyed the car, duck, and horse, among other carved chairs.

Then off to walk by Tate and the Globe, and then to the market which was closed by the time I got there (I'll update with names at some point, when I look them up). Then the tube to my friends house (Ida and Adam) who I'm staying with. I kept nodding off in the tube and startling my fellow passengers when my hand would fall off my bag. After getting off at my stop (West Hampstead), I promptly hit up starbucks and found a small organic market (indian owned, of course) where I found quinoa! YAY. No one was home when I got to Ida's house so I went grocery shopping and got the most divine aparagus (and blueberries, turnips, cabbage, zuchinni, onions, and awesome goat cheese).

Adam grilled salmon and asparagus for us for dinner, Ida made salad and ham (which there's a leg of, including hoof, in the kitchen that slices come off of), and cheese and rye bread, and almonds, and fresh dates, and of course I made the quinoa. The asparagus was the best I've ever had, and apparently it is famous from England at this time of year. mmmm mmm mmmmm.

I'm off for a shower, and then some sleep! (yay!) Tomorrow I plan to do some museums...specifically Victoria and Albert...then who knows what. I figure I'll leave it to the people who live here to show me what's good. So far it's been a lot of fun, and of course it's been nice to be back after a short while. It was suggested over dinner that perhaps we should all have an annual bbq dinner in London, and I think that's a fantastic idea...

Stay happy and healthy!
xox
L

un-identity crisis

Yay! It's Friday! Another week went by. My PCR is still not working, and all the sequence results I got today had something seriously wrong with them. Saki thinks that these are just reading errors, and not frame-shift mutations...in any case, not what I'd hoped for. But tonight's another night to study away, and make the dream come true. I think all this studying, for this exam I've put off for so long, has really made me question my motivations. I, to this day, am totally unsure of what I want to do, and how I want to do it. But I keep trying to have faith that I will be put to service a most valuable way. I see all these doctors in white coats, every day. Some of them seem happy, but many of them look like drones, mindlessly carrying on. All seem to be plagued by managed care and "the system."

I guess tonight I got home, and for some reason was reminded of myself many years ago. Back when I was 17, and the world was totally unknown, I was totally creative. Everything I did was creative, and everything I wanted to do was creative. And I sit here today, and wonder, how did I get myself into this world? It's a place with lots of black and white, anaylitic-heavy, square-infested, and mostly not light-hearted or creative at all. It's all politics it seems. I think I liked spending time with musicians better. I liked my random life where I could just be anything interesting, new, and innovative. Create something new. Make a film, or a song, or a dress, or a poem, or a story, or anything really.

Anyway, I miss my old self and I think I should invest in more creative ideals. Take out the black and white. Un-conform, be less analytical, and more authentic to creative expression. Science has just totally exacerbated my anal retentive and hard-ass tendencies...which makes me feel like I've just turned perfectionist-bitch crazy. So next time you guys see me behaving scientifically, do me a favor and get me to paint with you, or go to a concert, or do ANYTHING creative. I think I need an antidote....

sewing machine

Hello all! It's been a long time since I've written. Mostly just enjoying my work, and studying for MCATs. I am taking the Berkeley Review...which is kicking my butt...but I really like studying for it. So yay. During one of my breaks this weekend I went shopping at goodwill for a night stand...and picked up an awesome sewing machine on my outing. I am so excited. For those of you who know me well, you know I've been thinking of buying one for years...and finally I found one. It's metal constructed, and not boring looking, and it works! Any of you sewing people...I'm ready for a lesson when I'm done with my exam. SO SO excited. yay :D bedtime!

YAY! This is exciting. Finally I have a blog. Maybe this will be the best way for people to remember me as I know I've completely fallen off the face of the planet...thanks research and MCAT preparations.
Okay, so I'll start with my first question of sorts...maybe someone will interact. I am really curious about people and their interaction with color. Do you have any color in particular that you love? And how do you feel when you see that color? I'm trying to get to the bottom of my multi-year affair with what I call "rorange." Most of you reading this have seen my coat, my mixer, and a multitude of other items that are all almost the same color. I ask this because I walked into World Market yesterday and practically started foaming at the mouth over this table cloth set which I feel I have no control over purchasing. I MUST have it. Anyway, now I feel helpless because I shouldn't be spending any money, but I know I will suffer terrible buyer's remorse if I don't.