Oldie but goodie with response!

Two videos today. First is the classic Yellow Fever video.


The second is a very good and funny song. Diana, you'll love the plastic reference.

Unfortunately, Bill Gates is still richer

Why my school is awesome and why they should pay me more!

Harvard's endowment hits $34.9 billion

By Svea Herbst-Bayliss

BOSTON (Reuters) - Harvard University, already America's richest university, said on Tuesday its endowment grew to a new high of $34.9 billion, boosted by bets on emerging markets, real estate and private equity.

Returns for fiscal 2007, which ended June 30, grew 23 percent, significantly above the 16.7 percent gain posted for 2006 and the 19.2 percent gain reported for 2005.

Harvard, whose investments are closely watched in the asset management industry, also extended its run of beating its internal benchmark and besting the average university's investment returns.

The Ivy League school made headlines last month when it lost $350 million after Sowood Capital, a hedge fund run by a former Harvard employee with whom the university invested, collapsed.

What started with problems in the subprime mortgage market quickly spread and pushed global stock markets lower, hurting many funds, including Sowood.

The school said the Sowood loss would have translated into a decline of about 1 percent on a stand-alone basis.

But the portfolio actually gained 0.4 percent in July because of its positioning and strong risk management. John Longbrake, a university spokesman, declined to say how the portfolio was faring in August, as sharp moves in the yen, metals and stocks left some hedge funds with heavy losses and others able to turn July's declines into gains.

Harvard, unlike many universities, still manages a chunk of its endowment in-house at its Harvard Management Company unit. It also relies on outsiders, including HMC alumni, who have launched their own hedge funds, to invest much of the money donated by former students.

The endowment is not a single fund but roughly 11,000 individual funds, many restricted to specific uses like scientific research or the creation of a professorship, the university said.

Mohamed El-Erian, who replaced Jack Meyer as HMC's president in 2006, is an influential emerging markets bond specialist. And for the second straight year, investments in emerging markets posted the year's highest total return.

Since arriving in Boston, where HMC is located, from California where he worked at Pacific Investment Management Co., El-Erian has rebuilt HMC's depleted staff and implemented other changes. HMC said it restructured the allocations it made to external managers, but gave no details. Looking ahead HMC plans to concentrate on under-exploited market segments to help develop new investment vehicles.

El-Erian said Harvard plans to be more transparent about its structure, activities and governance, setting an example in an industry well-known for its secrecy. Next month, a new Web site will be launched, and in October 2008, HMC will publish its first-ever annual report.

The median large institutional fund returned 17.7 percent in the last fiscal year, according to the Trust Universe Comparison Service.

Harvard, located across the Charles River from Boston in Cambridge, relies heavily on its endowment to cover annual expenses and said it spends about 5 percent of the endowment every year on university programs.

Fashion Faux Pas

This past Monday, I wore a green/blue striped shirt to work. When I put it on, I thought to myself, I hope my boss doesn't wear the same shirt I knew he had one b/c he had worn it once before.

Stupid thought, but it came true. Here's the proof.



Oh yes, to those of you who read my blog and don't know, this is my boss, Raghu Kalluri. He's the head for the Center of Matrix Biology at the Beth Israel Deaconness Medical Center. Because we are mostly interested in the role of the microenvironment in health and disease, the focus of our lab spans most organ systems (we have papers about heart, liver, kidney, angiogenesis, and tumor biology.

The mess behind us is my bench. The kimwips to the left of me helped me through many sneezy days.

My Mad Skills

In high school I worked on the school newspaper. There, I learned to use photoshop, adobe pagemaker. I used to copyedit all the text before publication. All of a sudden, I'm going through a little bit of deja vu.

I used photoshop to edit the contrast of some of my picture from lab. I used illustrator to make my figures. Those programs, all made by Adobe, has certain common functionalities and it just felt like I was getting back into newspaper again. I even remember the key strokes! Instead this time, I'm begging for money to do scientific research.

It's strange.

My Irrational Fear

We all have our fears. Some of us are scared of clowns. Chandler Bing from Friends is scared of Michael Flatley.

My irrational fear are circular things that look organized, but really shouldn't be.

For example, I am scared of hair plugs. I saw a guy with fresh hair plugs a year ago and I got chills up and down my spine. They were pores that were unnaturally aligned, even spaced.

Another thing that gave me chills are the pods on the back of ferns. They're so regularly spaced, but not in any organized fashion.

So yesterday, I was doing some immunofluorescence work and found this. And it scared me a lot.

Reason why Ed is awesome - Reason #30,455

Returning to Real Blogging

Lately, I've been posting links and stories that I find terribly amusing and not so much about me. Clearly as a blogger, I place myself above all others and I love to talk about me because I am the most important, I must indulge my narcissism a bit by once again, returning to my favorite topic of all, ME!

In months past, I had exercised incredible restraint, refraining from both Dunkin' and Starbucks. A can of coffee grounds lasts me three weeks and costs me about a venti-caramel macchiato. That's so much money saved.

However, I've become a sucker for muffins and ice coffee. I stop doing coffee in the mornings at home because the coffee was hot and it was too warm to have hot coffee. Plus, it just doesnt' go well with yogurt and granola or cereal. Instead, I decide to skip breakfast at home, take the first M2 I can get my butt on because I'm already late (a recent knack for rolling out of bed at 9:20) I get on campus at around 10:30 and conveniently between the bus stop and my lab is a little coffee shop. They serve cold starbucks coffee for 1.50 and a muffin for 1.50 (always banana nut or blueberry) As a student, I exercise my Crimson cash and get a 20% discount.

Much cheaper than dunkin or starbucks, I say to myself. However, it's gotten bad. In the last two weeks, I have eaten every breakfast at this coffee shop or at Dunkin' (on the weekends mostly) It's always the two donut+ice coffee combo. Most peopel can resist eating both donuts, but I can not. My once-about-to-be-svelte-stomach has gone to waste. Alas I am undone.

Now I'm trying to get back on track with the coffee. I'll make coffee the night before and put it in the fridge. Or I can just add a crap load of ice to it (as long as I make it super dark) Hopefully, I'll stave off eating that muffins/donuts. That's what really doing me in.

Bad Thai cops to endure Kitty shame

This is too HILARIOUS! Story taken from AP by way of Yahoo!



BANGKOK, Thailand - Thai police officers who break rules will be forced to wear hot pink armbands featuring "Hello Kitty," the Japanese icon of cute, as a mark of shame, a senior officer said Monday.

Police officers caught littering, parking in a prohibited area, or arriving late — among other misdemeanors — will be forced to stay in the division office and wear the armband all day, said Police Col. Pongpat Chayaphan. The officers won't wear the armband in public.

The striking armband features Hello Kitty sitting atop two hearts.

"Simple warnings no longer work. This new twist is expected to make them feel guilt and shame and prevent them from repeating the offense, no matter how minor," said Pongpat, acting chief of the Crime Suppression Division in Bangkok.

"(Hello) Kitty is a cute icon for young girls. It's not something macho police officers want covering their biceps," Pongpat said.

He said police caught breaking the law will be subject the same fines and penalties as any other members of the public.

"We want to make sure that we do not condone small offenses," Pongpat said, adding that the CSD believed that getting tough on petty misdemeanors would lead to fewer cases of more serious offenses including abuse of power and mistreatment of the public by police officers.

Hello Kitty, invented by Sanrio Co. in 1974, has been popular for years with children and young women. The celebrity cat adorns everything from diamond-studded jewelry, Fender guitars and digital cameras to lunch boxes, T-shirts and stationery.

TIE HER TUBES!

First thought: Why did it not surprise me that the husband's name is JIM BOB.
Second Thought: I wished my breeding mice are as good as her.

Arkansas couple welcomes 17th child

By JILL ZEMAN, Associated Press Writer

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - It's a girl — again — for the Duggars. Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar welcomed their 17th child, and seventh daughter, into the world Thursday.

Jennifer Danielle was born at 10:01 a.m. at Saint Mary's Hospital in Rogers, Ark., the Duggars said in an interview. Jennifer weighed 8 pounds, 8 ounces and arrived five days after Michelle's due date.

Less than 30 minutes after giving birth, the Duggars already were talking of having more.

"We'd love to have more," Michelle said, adding that the girls are outnumbered seven to 10 in the family. "We love the ruffles and lace."

Jennifer joins the fast-growing Duggar brood, who live in Tontitown in a 7,000-square-foot home. All the children — whose names start with the letter J — are home-schooled.

The oldest is 19 and the youngest, before Jennifer, is almost 2 years old.

"We are just so grateful to God for another gift from him," said Jim Bob Duggar, 42, a former state representative. "We are just so thankful to him that everything went just very well."

Jennifer joins siblings Joshua, 19; John David, 17; Janna, 17; Jill, 16; Jessa, 14; Jinger, 13; Joseph, 12; Josiah, 11; Joy-Anna, 9; Jedidiah, 8; Jeremiah, 8; Jason 7; James 6; Justin, 4; Jackson, 3; Johannah, almost 2.

The family includes two sets of twins.

Michelle Duggar said that Joshua, Janna, Jill and Jessa were at the hospital, but that the rest of the family planned to visit their new sister later Thursday.

Michelle Duggar said she started feeling contractions Wednesday night and went to the hospital at about 5 a.m. Thursday.

"It actually went fast," she said. "I guess once I started progressing, it went within 30 minutes."

Jennifer was born via a VBAC — or vaginal birth after Caesarean, Jim Bob Duggar said.

The Duggars have been featured on several programs on cable's Discovery Health Network. The next special, the Duggar Family Album, is scheduled to air next month, Jim Bob Duggar said.

Among the "fun facts" listed on Discovery Health's Web page devoted to the Duggars: A baby has been born in every month except June; the Duggars have gone through an estimated 90,000 diapers, and Michelle, 40, has been pregnant for 126 months — or 10.5 years — of her life.

Cantab

Went to the Cantab Lounge in Central the other night. It's a small hole-in-the-wall but they have great live music. A lot of blues and jazz and it's great!

Dammit, They beat me to the punch!

From http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D8QMEDE80&show_article=1

Company Rents Pets to Animal Lovers

Jul 29 03:11 PM US/Eastern By LISA LEFF Associated Press Writer

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - From the state that popularized purse puppies, drive-thru dog washes and gourmet dog food delivery comes the latest in canine convenience—a company that contracts out dogs by the day to urbanites without the time or space to care for a pet full-time.

Marlena Cervantes, founder of FlexPetz, bristles when people refer to her five-month-old business as a rent-a-pet service. She prefers the term "shared pet ownership," explaining the concept is more akin to a vacation time share or a gym membership than a trip to the video store.

"Our members are responsible in that they realize full-time ownership is not an option for them and would be unfair to the dog," said Cervantes, 32, a behavioral therapist who got the idea while working with pets and autistic children. "It prevents dogs from being adopted and then returned to the shelter by people who realize it wasn't a good fit."

FlexPetz is currently available in Los Angeles and San Diego, where Cervantes lives. She plans to open new locations in San Francisco next month, New York in September and London by the end of the year.

She's also hoping to franchise the FlexPetz concept so the dogs will have housing options other than kennels when not in use. For San Francisco, she's hired a caretaker who plans to keep the dogs at her house when they aren't on loan to members.

For an annual fee of $99.95, a monthly payment of $49.95 and a per- visit charge of $39.95 a day, (discounted to $24.95 Sunday through Thursday), animal lovers who enroll in FlexPetz get to spend time with a four-legged companion from Cervantes' 10-dog crew of Afghan hounds, Labrador retrievers and Boston terriers.

The membership costs cover the expense of training the dogs, boarding them at a cage-free kennel, home or office delivery, collar-sized global positioning devices, veterinary bills and liability insurance. It also pays for the "care kits"—comprised of leashes, bowls, beds and pre-measured food—that accompany each dog on its visits.

Charter member Shari Gonzalez said she was thinking about getting a dog when a dog trainer she consulted suggested part-time ownership. At first, she had reservations.

Gonzalez, 22, never doubted there was room for a dog in her heart. The issue was her life, which included a small, two-bedroom apartment and a full-time schedule of college classes in San Diego.

"I was thinking, 'How is a dog going to bounce from house to house and be OK with that,'" she said. "I didn't want a dog that would come into my place and pee."

Her misgivings were allayed after she spoke with Cervantes, who explained that only dogs with social temperaments were picked for the program and that each would ideally be shared by no more than two or three owner-members.

Since signing up, Gonzalez said a black Lab named Jackpot has become a treasured part of her social network. They spend an average of one day each weekend together. He sleeps at her apartment and she takes him on hikes, to the beach and to parks frequented by other dog owners. The money spent on her membership has been well worth it, she said.

"I never even thought that was a possibility," Gonzalez said. "I thought you either owned a dog or you didn't."

Although she has never seen the doggy day care center where Jackpot spends his off-days, Gonzalez recently met another of his part-time companions, graphic designer Jenny Goddard, 33. Goddard, who is married with a 6-year-old son, said having a dog a weekend or two a month has been perfect for her busy family and encourages them to spend more time together outdoors.

"It's funny," she said. "He is so friendly and immediately playful with us, people are surprised he is a rental dog."

The idea of commitment-free pets is not entirely new, although no one in the United States has tried it with as much drive as Cervantes. Most private animal shelters, for instance, encourage volunteers to become temporary foster families to animals awaiting adoption.

For 15 years, the Aspen Animal Shelter in Colorado has gone a step further with a Rent-a-Pet program that allows residents and tourists in the resort town to take dogs out for a few hours or overnight for free.

"It benefits the homeless animals, keeps them socialized and exercised and in the end they end up getting adopted," said owner Seth Sachson. "The people benefit, too. When a tourist walks around town with a dog, they feel like a local."

Melissa Bain, a veterinarian with the Companion Animal Behavior Program at the University of California, Davis, said she had concerns about, but no hard-and-fast objections to a service like FlexPetz.

On the positive side, it might give people an easy way to test the ownership waters and keep a few dogs from being euthanized, Bain said. Possible downsides would be irresponsible members who treat the dogs like a lifestyle accessory instead of a living thing.

"It depends on the people and it depends on the animal. Some dogs may be fine and some may become stressed because they are moving from home to home," Bain said. "Perhaps they had a good experience with a good part-time owner and then they get shipped back. What kind of message does that send to kids? That dogs are disposable."

Cervantes said the hour-long sessions Flexpetz members are required to spend with their dog and a trainer before their first outing ensures the dogs are going into caring, competent homes.

Her members, who range in age from 5 to 60-plus, include single women in search of security and a conversation starter, Navy personnel who love dogs but are at sea for much of the year, and seniors who live in apartments where dogs are not allowed.

"Usually, our dogs are lavished with attention, and it's undivided attention from our members because it is the only time they have together," she said. "Some people take a dog home and realize, 'Hey, I can adopt a dog.'"

Need I say more

Too Cool!

I can't wait any longer, You'll have to freeze me

NYTimes review of the upcoming Harry Potter.

It sounds so great

------

July 18, 2007

Books of the Times

For Harry Potter, Good Old-Fashioned Closure

By MICHIKO KAKUTANI

So, here it is at last: the final confrontation between Harry Potter, the Boy Who Lived, the Chosen One, the “symbol of hope” for both the Wizard and Muggle worlds, and Lord Voldemort, He Who Must Not Be Named, the nefarious leader of the Death Eaters and would-be ruler of all. Good versus Evil. Love versus Hate. The Seeker versus the Dark Lord.

J.K. Rowling’s monumental, spell-binding epic, 10 years in the making, is deeply rooted in traditional literature and Hollywood sagas — from the Greek myths to Dickens and Tolkien to Star Wars — and true to its roots, it ends not with modernist, Soprano-esque equivocation, but with good old-fashioned closure: a big screen, heart-racing, bone-chilling confrontation and an epilogue that clearly lays out people’s fates. Getting to the finish line is not seamless — the last portion of the final book has some lumpy passages of exposition and a couple of clunky detours — but the overall conclusion of the series and its determination of the main characters’ storylines possess a convincing inevitability that make some of the pre-publication speculation seem curiously blinkered in retrospect.

With each installment, the Potter series has grown increasingly dark, and this volume — a copy of which was purchased at a New York City retail outlet today, although the book is embargoed for release until 12:01 a.m. this Saturday — is no exception. While Ms. Rowling’s astonishingly limber voice still moves effortlessly between Ron’s adolescent sarcasm and Harry’s growing solemnity, from youthful exuberance to more philosophical gravity, “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows” is, for the most part, a somber book that marks Harry’s final initiation into the complexities and sadnesses of adulthood.

From his first days at Hogwarts, the young, green-eyed boy bore the burden of his destiny as a leader, coping with the expectations and duties of his role, and in this volume he is clearly more Henry V than Prince Hal, more King Arthur than young Wart: high-spirited war games of Quidditch have given way to real war, and Harry often wishes he were not the de facto leader of the Resistance movement, shouldering terrifying responsibilities, but an ordinary teenage boy — free to romance Ginny Weasley and hang out with his friends.

Harry has already lost his parents, his godfather Sirius and his teacher Professor Dumbledore (all mentors he might have once received instruction from), and in this volume the losses mount with unnerving speed: at least half a dozen characters we have come to know die in these pages, and many others are wounded or tortured. Voldemort and his followers have infiltrated Hogwarts and the Ministry of Magic, creating havoc and terror in both the Wizard and Muggle worlds alike, and the members of various populations — including elves, goblins and centaurs — are choosing up sides.

No wonder then that Harry often seems overwhelmed with disillusionment and doubt in the final installment of this seven-volume bildungsroman. Harry continues to struggle to control his temper, and as he and Ron and Hermione search for the missing Horcruxes (secret magical objects in which Voldemort has stashed parts of his soul, objects that Harry must destroy if he hopes to kill the evil lord), he literally enters a dark wood, in which he must do battle not only with the Death Eaters, but also with the temptations of hubris and despair.

Harry’s weird psychic connection with Voldemort (symbolized by the lightning-bolt forehead scar he bears, as a result of the Dark Lord’s attack on him when he was a baby) seems to have grown stronger too, giving him clues to Voldemort’s actions and whereabouts, even as it lures him ever closer to the dark side. One of the plot’s key turning points concerns Harry’s decision whether to continue looking for the Horcruxes — the mission assigned to him by the late Dumbledore — or whether to pursue, instead, three magical objects known as the Hallows, which are said to make their possessor the master of Death.

Harry’s journey will propel him forwards to a final showdown with his archenemy, and also send him backwards into the past, back to the house in Godric’s Hollow where his parents died, to learn about his own family history and the equally mysterious history of Dumbledore’s family. At the same time, he will be forced to ponder the equation between fraternity and independence, free will and fate, and to come to terms with his own frailties and those of others. Indeed, ambiguities proliferate throughout “The Deathly Hallows”: we are made to see that kindly Dumbledore, sinister Severus Snape and perhaps even awful Muggle cousin Dudley Dursley may be more complicated than they initially seem, that all of them, like Harry himself, have hidden aspects to their personalities, and that choice — more than talent or predisposition — matters most of all.

It is Ms. Rowling’s achievement in this series that she manages to make Harry both a familiar adolescent — coping with the banal frustrations of school and dating — and an epic hero, kin to everyone from the young King Arthur to Spiderman and Luke Skywalker. This same magpie talent has enabled her to create a narrative that effortlessly mixes up allusions to Homer, Milton, Shakespeare and Kafka, with silly kid jokes about vomit-flavored candies, a narrative that fuses a plethora of genres (from the boarding school novel to the detective story to the epic quest) into a story that could be Exhibit A in a Joseph Campbell survey of mythic archetypes.

In doing so, J.K. Rowling has created a world as fully detailed as L. Frank Baum’s “Oz” or J.R.R. Tolkien’s “Middle Earth,” a world so minutely imagined in terms of its history and rituals and rules that it qualifies as an alternate universe — which may be one of the reasons the Potter books have spawned such a passionate following and such fervent exegesis.

With this final volume, the reader realizes that small incidents and asides in earlier installments (hidden among a huge number of red herrings) create a breadcrumb trail of clues to the plot, that Ms. Rowling has fitted together the jigsaw puzzle pieces of this long undertaking with Dickensian ingenuity and ardor. Objects and spells from earlier books — like the invisibility cloak, Polyjuice Potion, Dumbledore’s Pensieve and Sirius’ flying motorcycle — will play important roles in this volume, and characters encountered before like the house elf Dobby and Mr. Ollivander the wandmaker will resurface, too.

The world of Harry Potter is a place where the mundane and the marvelous, the ordinary and the surreal co-exist. It’s a place where cars can fly and owls can deliver the mail, a place where paintings talk and a mirror reflects people’s innermost desires. It’s also a place utterly recognizable to readers, a place where death and the catastrophes of daily life are inevitable, and people’s lives are defined by love and loss and hope — the same way they are in our own mortal world.

So Cute!

The Simpsons Movie is about to be out and I just love all the promos they're doing for it.

First is the nice photo-op with all-too-familiar couch with the rest of the Simpsons at local movie theaters

Second is the 7-11 turned Qwik-E Marts.

Now, the Simpsons are featured in Harpers Bazaar modeling the latests in French Fashion.

http://community.livejournal.com/ohnotheydidnt/13886727.html

Another Case of "No Shit, Einstein"

Founds this on Reuters by way of DrudgeReport.com
-------------------

Women drawn to men with muscles

By Julie Steenhuysen

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Muscular young men are likely to have more sex partners than their less-chiseled peers, researchers at the University of California Los Angeles said on Monday.

Their study, published in the Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, suggests muscles in men are akin to elaborate tail feathers in male peacocks: They attract females looking for a virile mate.

"Women are predisposed to prefer muscularity in men," said study author David Frederick of UCLA.

"Most research is focused on what men find physically attractive in women and the career traits women find attractive in men," Frederick said by telephone. "Much less research is devoted to what women find attractive."

He said prior studies concluded a man's desirability was influenced more by his earning potential and commitment. His study found physical characteristics mattered more.

Women were more physically attracted to brawny men, especially for a fling. But when it comes to finding a long-term partner, they tend to pick a regular man over a mate with huge biceps.

"On the one hand, it makes them more sexy to women. On the other hand, it makes women more suspicious about their romantic intentions," Frederick said.

He and colleagues interviewed 99 male undergraduates about their sexual histories. Muscular men were twice as likely to have had more than three sex partners than less-built types.

Frederick and colleagues also asked 141 college women to look at six standardized silhouettes of men ranging from brawny to slender. Most preferred a toned man who was more likely to commit over a muscle-bound man they perceived as more volatile, aggressive and dominant.

That's right outside AHS!

First it was the Beach Boys and now it's Pat Benatar. I never knew 1st St and Main in Alhambra is such a popular venue for such oldies but goodies performers. Classic!

JOAN JETT IS GONNA BE THERE TOO!! Nuts! Oh, I hate myself for loving you!

-------------From TMZ.com---------------
While most of the planet was rockin' to her Madgesty and Dave Matthews at Live Earth this weekend, tiny little Alhambra, Calif. got their best shot at welcoming rock royalty -- Pat Benatar! Hit me!

Queen of '80s rock Pat Benatar played a free show at the city's Summer Jubilee, beltin' out all her hits. Pat and hubby Neil Giraldo still have it, twenty years later! The city's summer concert series loves the '80s ladies; Joan Jett and Teena Marie are up next. Bust out the spandex, hairspray and fluorescent tops!

Flight of the Conchords

Maple Salmon

Stumbled upon the recipe for Maple salmon on allrecipes.com the other day. Since I already had all the ingredients in my fridge, I decided to make it. With it, i added some pesto pasta and sauteed squash and zuchinni as sides. For an appetizer, I made proscuitto and melon. I love proscuitto. I can't wait to wrap other stuff with it.

Overall not bad. the salmon could have been cooked a tad more so it can be more flaky. could have baked the fish in a smaller dish so there would be less loss of the glaze taste. It's a super easy recipe, so I'll be seeing a lot of this again!

Boston never disappoints

Teaser Fireworks during Symphony Half-time with the 1812 Overture
(You gotta have fireworks and cannons with that!)

Being the gung ho person that I am, I volunteered to stake out land for the fireworks show along the Charles yesterday. Arriving at 9am, I found the place packed with people already along the Esplanade.

Luckily, I was able to find a nice spot at the west side of Esplanade that was beautiful. There were enough trees that gave us plenty of shade for the day, but also an unrivaled view of the fireworks barge

So the day began beautifully. From 9 til noon, there was sunshine and nice wind -- altogether a great day to lay out in the sun. From Noon onwards, it was cloudy skies. Howevever from 4 onwards there was sprinkles and some drizzling. Again, being the gung-ho person that I am, I worried if the show would be canceled due to inclement weather. The trees, at this point, became a second blessing. As amateurs, I clearly did not understand the moodiness of Boston weather. To stake out a spot means you'll need to be prepared for the rain. Without full tents and umbrellas, the trees became a wonderful refuge from the drizzling.

As I have mentioned, I volunteered to stake out the land for people in class. Although the initial response was not a full fanfare, I had expected people to show up. Sadly, aside from a few people who were with me, others came and went. I was sad because I had saved a large piece of land for everyone and hardly anyone showed up (maybe under 10). Eitherway, special shout-out to the virology program. Rain had made their spot pretty miserable (as they were unshaded). They joined us and made the part much larger!

The show came on and it was an AWESOME show. We cannot see EVERYTHING in one look. I didn't take pictures of it during the show because it was too awesome to spend time looking into a small screen. I wanted to see every bit of it. Everything was worth it.

Oh yes. Super special thanks to Nate and Alison for being crazy enough to hang out with me all day on the river.




MIT lit up!