L.A. Not So Confidential

Did you ever see L.A. Confidential? It was pretty good AND Russell Crowe was in it.

Anyways....

I went to L.A. this weekend for a graduate school interview at USC. At first I didn't really want to go because it's becoming a pain in the butt to take so much time off school and work. I also didn't think I'd really like L.A.

Turns out I was wrong. I LOVED L.A. I really like the program at USC, and I definitely like the weather.

The campus is really nice too.

I even made some friends- this is my new friend Stacey. She's from Arizona but currently lives in California.

They wined and dined us. Seriously though, who doesn't like a little wining and dining every once in a while?

It's kind of nice that the students aren't the only ones kissing butt, the school has to kiss a little butt too. Most schools give out a certain number of offers each year and based on how many people accept, the school gets certain incentives or ranking increases. Because everyone is interviewing at numerous places, the schools have some incentive to focus on recruitment.

I made up for not drinking the wine by pigging out on food.

We each had our own rooms at the Los Angeles Athletic Club. This bed was one of the most comfortable beds I've ever slept in. I wanted to stash the pillows in my suitcase.

There were cool pictures all over the place.

Before this trip the only athletic club I'd ever heard of is the one in The Young and the Restless. Nothing goes on in Genoa City without everyone meeting at the athletic club at some point.

The highlight of the trip was eating at Yoshinoya. I haven't had Yoshinoya since living in Malaysia-even then we'd have to drive 4 hours to Kuala Lumpur to get to the closest Yoshinoya.

Yoshinoya is famous for their gyudon- or beef bowl. It's so good- especially with pickled ginger and some chili. I LOVE gyudon and haven't had it like this in years.

The Yoshinoya I went to was run by Mexicans, and filled with Mexicans. It was so great listening to the woman call out numbers and take orders in Spanish. It didn't quite have the same charm as the Yoshinoya in Tokyo, but it was a lot of fun.

One of my best friends from high school-Shinobu-is from Tokyo. I'd always tell her about my crazy obsession with gyudon and Yoshinoya. She told me that she had never been to Yoshinoya- apparently in Tokyo only businessmen eat at Yoshinoya and usually just during lunch breaks. It's really not as common for women or families to eat there. She was right too- when we went, it was nothing but businessmen in suits.

I really like L.A. I don't know about the traffic and living situation- apparently they recommend you don't live too close to the graduate school campus because the neighborhood isn't too safe. You've also got to be careful about where you park your car. I'd have to commute to school/work everyday if I ended up at USC.

The food might be worth it though.

It's All About The Fermentation

I went to Denver last weekend for another graduate school interview. The people at the University of Colorado in Denver were a lot more down to earth and friendly than the people at UC San Diego. Too bad it's cold and snowy in Denver.

After interviews, the current graduate students took us downtown to look around. We crossed Larimer street; my grandma lived on Larimer street when she was a little girl. Her father owned a dress shop on Larimer and she would roller skate up and down the street.

I love listening to my grandma tell stories of her childhood, they all include Larimer street.

I was under the impression that we were going to walk around and go to a couple of malls or museums.

Before I knew it, we were passing the Rockies stadium and heading into a microbrewery. Only they didn't brew there, they just sold the beer. Wanna know what's more boring than watching while everyone else is sampling beer? Listening to them talk about beer and their favorite pubs while they drink the beer.

It was decided that we'd take off and walk to another microbrewery called The Great Divide. They actually brewed there.

Apparently you can attend brewer's school to learn about the process. They basically boil the grain and then feed the sugar water to the yeast; the yeast ferment it into booze.

The beer ages in kegs for some time.

Here's where they bottle it.

Don't forget though, it's all about the fermentation.

I eventually broke off from the group and headed to the 16th street mall. Exploring a new mall or shopping center is never boring.

We've been having a lot of fun watching the Olympics, especially the figure skating.

We're so glad the American won gold.

The speed skating has been really fun too.

Blah blah blah

I don't want to do homework.

My homework for the past weekend has been studying this:

Exciting huh? Hemoglobin transports oxygen throughout your body... it makes your blood red. You know how the rock and dirt in southern Utah is bright red? It's from the oxidized iron- the iron in the dirt basically rusts and turns red. Blood is red because there are iron molecules that bind to oxygen.

I took my first biochemistry test today. I bet you can't guess what was on it.

I have a test in Greek mythology tomorrow. You've gotta love GEs. Ironically, I haven't read any of the Greek myths assigned to us. Okay maybe it's not ironic, just lame.

I'm know, I know, this is the most boring post ever. I don't want to do my homework. I have a presentation to give in plant physiology tomorrow, and an assignment due in ecology.

San Diego

Just before my flight to San Diego, my Grandma lovingly fixed the hem on my pants. My mom bought me a nice suit for my interviews at UC San Diego- I spent like 3 or 4 hours the night before screwing around with hem tape and then trying to simply stitch the pants when the tape didn't work. The end result looked like a sloppy Home Ec. job. What can I say? My whole life seems to be a sloppy Home Ec. Job, I don't even know how to iron-it seems like when you get one part ironed it wrinkles in another. I know, it's lame.

My grandma says that ironing is the secret to a good hem. My grandma is really good at ironing and sewing.

Did you know my grandparents are famous?

Their picture appears in numerous Ensigns, Friends and Lesson manuals.

Check out page 65 of your Teaching of the Presidents of the Church: Joseph Smith manual- they recently appeared there too.

Thanks Grandma for fixing my pants!

I think the interviews went good. I met with 5 different faculty members and had a 40 minute interview with each. It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I'm competing with Harvard lab workers and other Ivy- leagers for a position at UCSD- it would be cool if I got in.

Here's a view of the Salk Institute- named after Jonas Salk, inventor of the polio vaccine. If I'm admitted to the biology program I would have the option to pick an advisor whose lab is there. I could probably spend five years researching in this building...

Citrus trees at the Salk Institute

View of the ocean from the Salk Institute. There are some stairs leading down to the beach.

This is a view from the Scripps Institute of Oceanography, if I was accepted to the program I might be able to do a lab rotation here.

They closed the Scripps Birch Aquarium to the public and hosted a private dinner there for the Biology "recruits." We had drinks (or diet coke) and cheese/crackers while we socialized with the faculty. Just before dinner, I took off to look around the aquarium.

Look at these creepy-ass eels. I tried to get some more pictures but they turned out too dark. I didn't want to freak out the fish with the camera flash.

Here's another picture of the UCSD campus on some benches between two of the biology buildings.

We went on a harbor cruise and saw some of down town San Diego (UCSD is located north in La Jolla).

I'm glad the whole interview weekend is over- it was stressful acting intelligent and alert to put on a good show for the faculty. I really hope they let me in.

Shawna Barker Rollins

Today was Shawna's funeral. It was a beautiful service. She touched the lives of so many people, and so many people love her and will miss her.

I'm sobbing even as I type this. I loved her so much. Our whole family loved her, and we love her husband Brad. Shawna was like family. This is the first time I've lost someone really close to me, and I've been having a really hard time dealing with it. I've been praying for her family and for Brad; the Lord is really helping me through this. It's hard to believe she's gone, but it's comforting to know that I'll see her again.

I'm so grateful for my wonderful family-it's a blessing to know that we are there for one another. I'm also grateful for wonderful friends who care for me. I'm grateful for the Lord, I honestly don't think I could have gotten through the past week without His love and help.

Brad and Shawna

Brad and Shawna are our next door neighbors. We have known them for years-they call us their three daughters next door. Whenever one of us has a big event like going to prom or homecoming, or a birthday, Brad and Shawna come over and take pictures, and Brad interviews the guys (after my dad does). Shawna loves to babysit our pets when we go out of town; she fell in love with my Betta fish while watching over him while we were in Hawaii. Shawna would place him on the counter and turn the TV on for him. It excited her that the fish would get excited and swim to her when she went to feed it (because the fish didn't do so with Brad).

One time my parents went out of town over night, and the three of us had a sleep over at Brad and Shawna's. We ate pizza and watched Jaws. I can remember Brad rewinding one part over and over-the part where Brody tells this one dude that it was a massive shark killing the swimmers and the guy goes, "A Whaaat?" He says it in a real high-pitched voice and I laugh when thinking about how many times Brad rewound that part. Shawna told Brad it was ridiculous and to stop rewinding it. I have so many fond memories of Brad and Shawna together. At the time, Brad was working for a frozen pizza company or something so those were the pizzas we were eating. Shawna said she wanted the good stuff and made Brad order a pizza from Brick Oven. When the Brick Oven pizza finally arrived Shawna was ready for bed and told Brad to stick it in the fridge for the next day. Brad just smiled.

Shawna had a massive coronary on Thursday and has been in a coma since then. They found out today that she has lost a lot of brain activity; it is only a matter of time before they turn off life support. Shawna was so full of life, it's hard to see her in the hospital hooked up to a million different tubes and a respirator. I like to think of Shawna in her shorts and hat walking her dogs around the neighborhood. I like to think of Shawna driving around in her convertible; we all had turns driving it when Brad and Shawna first got it (I think we were all under 16 at the time). When I think of Shawna, I'm going to think of her laughing and full of energy.

I am so heartbroken to lose her. I am heartbroken for Brad and their family. Everyone loves Shawna so much. We are blessed to have had her in our lives, and we are going to miss her a lot. The Lord sustains us in our trials, I know He will take care of Brad and the loved ones Shawna leaves behind. I am grateful that this is not the end, that we can see Shawna again.

I fell asleep in class today...

I was up really late last night reading Alexander Pope's Essay on Man, and Jonathan Swift's A Modest Proposal. I had an essay on the readings due in class the next day. You know, it was like reading a foreign language at first. I haven't read any intellectual English literature since high school, I've been too busy with my science mumbo jumbo. When I have free time I can promise you I don't read Alexander Pope or Jonathan Swift, I read a bunch of mindless fluff.

Anyway, I was up late last night and fell asleep in my humanities class today.

I probably looked a little something like this:

Except there was drool running out the corner of my mouth. Yep. Drool. There was drool on my shirt when I woke up. Who knows how many people saw me! My class is an honors class-it's really small so I KNOW the teacher did. He probably wondered who the loser was with the drool coming out of her mouth and puddling on her shirt.

I wish I could say that this was the first and ONLY time this has every happened, but it's not.

How is a person supposed to stay awake when the lights are dim, the teacher talks really soft and there isn't a smidgen of caffeine to be found on campus? Seriously people, I need some ideas.