I am thoroughly addicted to TED videos and I have just now found out that TED 2009 is going on RIGHT NOW! Man I wish I was there. I am such a geek. They mentioned something about having TED-viewing parties, where you have people over for hors d'ouevres and watch TED videos. Sweeeeet. I would totally have one of those.

I watched a really good video the other day about spaghetti
and about foie gras
and comics

they are all good and recommended viewing while eating lunch at your desk and/or pretending to work

So here's something exciting, right now I'm sitting in the atrium of Hong Kong University of Science and Techonology, which is practically outside since it's like 80+ degrees and the entire school is all open-air stuff. I'm in Hong Kong for the Synthetic Biology 4.0 conference. I'm here with my advisor, sort of, we're staying in the same hotel but I never see her because she seems to think I'll be OK wandering around by myself even though I don't know where anything is and don't speak Chinese. They say everyone speaks English here but that is totally a lie. Anyway, I've only gotten lost once, in a MALL of all places, but the mall was fucking huge and there were thousands of people and i was the only non-asian. It was insane. And really weird.

Aside from that, Hong Kong is beautiful, well at least the scenery is, there are a lot of rivers and coastline (duh) but it's practically like a rainforest here, it's super humid and there are trees and random mini-mountains all over the place and a bajillion apartment buildings. It's crazy, these things are like something out of a sci-fi movie except they look really really gross and dirty. I haven't seen one house anywhere, its all these skyscraper apartments buildings, one after another, packed so tight that I was looking at 6 all right next to each other, in one complex, and then when we drove by I realized that the rows went three deep. Crazy.

As for the conference, my advisor is giving a talk in the next session but I have no idea where she is. I was going to tell her good luck but she's kind of small and asian and tends to blend in. I also skipped the first morning session because I needed to get miles in for the half-marathon next week. Kinddddd of a busy timeeee. There was a poster session yesterday and I only had to explain it to three people and one guy came buy and read it and nodded approvingly, which was good. And the other people didn't really ask any hard questions, one was this venture capitalist guy whom I had been talking to earlier, so maybe he'll give me money or something. There certainly are lots of interesting people here but most just want to talk about synthetic biology but I'm kind of sick about talking about that, also, I just started my project and I don't really have any results or know as much as most people here. Which is good for learning but not so much when people ask you questions you don't know the answer to, which happened at lunch yesterday so I just bullshitted some stuff. It was one of those "Why are you doing this instead of this other thing?" questions, and I'm like "Bitch, cause my advisor told me to! Bitch." She really was a bitch. Also kind of toady-looking. Anyway I have to stop writing because I am sitting outside and it is hot as balls.

Quick note on the food. Very strange, better than that shit you get in the states, but so far I've had way too many things fried or covered in other things and tapioca beans inserted into, like, every dessert. But it's mostly free so, eh.

so I moved this weekend. yay. now I'm living in a real house with J. and R. By "real" i mean not a college house -- it has a garage and a basement and is new and clean and not gross. but the most important part is that my closet is HUGE. so big I could have a closet party just in the closet. I might actually do that. it's very inspirational, in that it inspires me to feed it with clothes. also, there is a corn field across the street from our subdivision (yea, we're like, in the suburbs) and there is this big creepy-looking tree sitting out in the middle of the field. It's kind of cool and every time I see it I have this huge urge to run through the corn out to the tree. which is a little weird. however i am slightly worried about getting lost. hmmm. will keep updates on whether or not i actually get lost in the corn one day.

other things...oh! I got funding for next year. which is good. but now I am worried I might give up on leaving after I get my masters' because I am too lazy to move again and deal with getting a job. especially since the funding can possibly be extended to 2 or 3 years. I got the Cellular Biotechnology Training Program Fellowship, which is basically a group of people who all do biotech related stuff here at Michigan, and then if your advisor is affiliated, you can be nominated for a fellowship. They give them out to about a few people every year, and then you just have to take a class and meet with the rest of the people once a month and share research and stuff. Not a big deal. My advisor knows that I was thinking of just getting a masters' and says they probably won't hunt me down if I take the money for one year and then leave. which is nice, but still doesn't help me decide what I want to do with my life. sigh...

also, this is just moronic. and sad. oh amsterdam, what ridiculous times we had together. thanks to some of my idiot friends....

i walk back to my chair and look in my book. on the title page, there is now a rather lumpy-looking penis with an arrow pointing to it that says "Matthew". Nice. d. felt bad but i was like, "Are you kidding? If i ever decide to sell this on ebay, i bet it would go for wayyyy more than a book without a penis drawing in it!" I was pleased.