There is nothing more frustrating than working on a problem with no solution. I spent four hours yesterday trying to get a piece of code to work, only realizing this morning that there is a problem with one of the dll's i'm using. Posted on the IDL newsgroup asking for a fix, and now i must begrudgingly let that project go ... for now.

This whole Ten Commandments monument episode is so ridiculous it's difficult to believe it's really happening. Yet again, the Onion provides succinct commentary: "At the rate the liberals are going, it won't be long before our country has an official policy mandating the separation of church and state", says systems analyst Stanley Weltey.

Until yesterday, i hadn't played any console games since returning to California ... what was that, like 50 days? A new record! Anyhoo, that streak ended when Gary came over to play Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour with V and i. A fun game ... V and i both enjoy golf games. Now i'm in that phase where i feel an overwhelming urge to sit down and unlock every last feature.

Saw a financial planner last week. Negatively-correlated stocks ... what a concept.

The mandatory footie ponderings (the season just started, cut me some slack): Chelsea appear to be making some progress with their overcrowded squad: Boudewijn Zenden is making overtures for a transfer to Paris St. Germain, while professional loaner Mikael Forssell is on his way to Birmingham for a year with City (i like Forssell a lot, hopefully soon he will earn a regular place with the real Blues) . My guess is J.F. Hasselbaink won't be around for long if new strike force Hernan Crespo and Adrian Mutu gel quickly. With the August 31 transfer deadline only 3 days away, i'm looking forward to respite from the neverending wheeling and dealing at Stamford Bridge. Roman Abramovich may sneak one more buy in, with the purchase of Real Madrid stalwart and malcontent Claude Makelele apparently finalized after an "on again, off again" saga over the last few weeks.

Working backwards through this recap ...

At work this morning after doing lots of house-related chores yesterday ... two trips to Target, a stop at Organized Living, and an hour or two in the back yard collapsing boxes from the move. *yawn*

V and i made it out to the east bay on Saturday afternoon for our second wedding in as many weeks, this time for Clement and Julie, old friends of mine from good ol' Mission San Jose High School. The service was held in a beautiful church up in the Piedmont hills, after which we changed venues to the Hong Kong East Ocean Restaurant along the bay in Emeryville for a ten course meal. More nostalgia for me, reminiscing with Colleen, Joe, Sung, Iqbal, Joanna, and many others. We're keeping up our wedding streak, having been invited to Joe and Cindy's ceremony next month. The popular question for us remains when we're getting married, and we're making the answer more specific all the time.

Earlier Saturday i saw that Chelsea notched another win in this young Premiership season, a 2-1 victory over newly-promoted Leicester City. Again, not an awe-inspiring show of strength, but it's 3 points nonetheless, and moved us even on points with leaders Arsenal and Manchester United. I see dark clouds on the horizon though, as Roman Abramovich's spending spree continued this morning with the signings of Russian midfielder Alexei Smertin and Argentinian striker Hernan Crespo. That makes 8 signings this summer, with the midfield looking particularly congested and even the striker situation dense now as well with Crespo, Mutu, Hasselbaink, Gudjohnsen, and Forssell. Put simply, something's gotta give, someone's gotta sit, and somebody's gonna be pissed. But hopefully we'll have some fine results until that day comes.

Should also mention that the night before, V and i hooked up with Michael, Gary, Victoria, and Kate to see Scottish indie popsters Belle & Sebastian at the Greek Theater in Berkeley. Those guys crack me up ... probably because you don't expect someone to be humorous immediately after singing a morose tune about getting beat up after gym class. They played everything i wanted to hear ... "Like Dylan in the Movies", "The Boy with the Arab Strap", "I Don't Love Anyone", "Expectations", and the fabulous closer "Me and the Major". Veronica and Gary have spent the last few days pondering over the B&S treasure hunt in the SF Weekly, but with debatable degrees of success.

I knew i was going to be busy when we came back to the bay area, but this is ridiculous ...

Last Wednesday i met up with old UCSF pals Tracy and Margaret in the Sunset for appetizers and drinks at PJ's Oysterbed. It's only 8 blocks from UCSF, but despite the rave reviews i never made it there during grad school. At 7:30pm we grabbed a seat at the bar, and i quickly learned that T & M were regulars and were on the receiving end of much free booze and food. I quickly joined the loop, and got pretty damn sloshed before heading home at 11. The cuisine (cajun seafood) was fantastic. Plus we had fun looking through the chef's photo albums of croc hunting and Mardi Gras. A great time catching up with two good friends.

After putting in a full day of work on Thursday, i drove over to Berkeley to meet up with Michael for sushi. The lack of traffic these days amazes me: i drove through SF to the Bay Bridge at 6:30, a trek that four years ago would've involved bumper-to-bumper traffic all the way, but on this occasion it was smooth sailing. I made it a bit early and headed to the Conga Lounge for pre-sushi drinks, meeting Michael's friends Casey and Keisha in the process. I also met Michael's old friend Peter, who i saw last at a barbecue at my apartment in Berkeley in 1995. At 7:45 we crossed the street to Uzen and were led upstairs to the private room. After being joined by Leigh Ann, Chris, and David, we ordered several platters of tekka maki, hamachi, uni, unagi, and shrimp heads (!!!) and washed it down with lots of Sapporo, Kirin Ichiban, and sake. For the second evening running i collapsed as soon as i stumbled in the house at midnight. And for the second evening running it was a lot of fun hanging with friends from back in the day.

I only worked until 3:30 on Friday as i had some errands to run, and needed to run home before heading to the opening reception for the 2nd annual meeting of the Society for Molecular Imaging at the Hyatt Regency (home of the revolving Equinox) in the city. About fifteen friends from my old lab in Boston made the trip for the conference, so i gave them the 411 on my voyage back to California over wine and dim sum until midnight.

I intended to get up early for the 8am plenaries of the meeting on Saturday, but my three nights of merry-making caught up with me and i just couldn't do it. So i skipped the morning sessions and instead drove to Oakland airport to head down to L.A. for the long-awaited wedding of Michelle and Sean. Gary and Robin were nice enough to pick me up at LAX, then we headed off to Pico Rivera for the service. V looked terrific as a bridesmaid, and the ceremony came off without a hitch. The reception was held at the lovely Luminarias in Monterey Park, and gave me a chance to catch up with another friend from 1995, Dionne. We stuck it out to the not-so-bitter end, grabbed a burger at Del Taco, then finally hit the hay at 1:30am.

Despite not having had a nice lay-in for a week and having spent the last four nights intoxicated, i rose at 5:45am to shower, then Veronica took me to LAX so i could fly back north and return to the conference. I don't know how i survived the whole day. I almost nodded off in several sessions. I kept telling myself that i would just go to one more talk ... one more reception ... one more dinner ... one more drink. I didn't leave until 11:30pm. I've lost my mind. Today i finally let myself sleep in, and missed the first two plenary sessions. But i did manage to have a nice lunch with CMIR chums Jan and Andreas, then went on a little hike to Coit Tower with Vasilis and Eyk. I was only at the meeting for four hours, but it was good to see off all my friends.

Looking over the last week, part of me is sad that life has to be constructed as a series of partings. Watching my labmates from the last 2 years head back east is tough. But another part of me is thankful for the reunions that to which parting gives rise. I enjoyed reunions this week with friends from Berkeley and UCSF, and although i miss Vasilis and co. already, it's only a matter of time before our paths cross again.

I've been putting off reviewing my latest read, Dougie Brimson's analysis of hooliganism in England, Barmy Army, which i finished last week. I was intrigued by the reviews of it on Amazon, which claimed it "is everything Among the Thugs is not: accurate, brilliantly researched and absolutley rivetting (sic)". Among the Thugs was a good read, but in retrospect it does describe some incidents that have me doubting its veracity. So i bought Barmy Army with an Amazon gift certificate (thanks Hilary!).

The book begins well enough: Brimson describes his days as a casual member of a Watford firm (or gang, to those of us in America). He spends 20 pages or so recounting his hooligan times, which aren't particularly brutal, then spends a while detailing the history of football-related violence in England, including testimonials from a number of fans and hooligans. It's written in a kind of lowbrow, direct style suiting a working class mechanic. However, things get screwy when he begins offering his solutions to the problem. He contradicts himself repeatedly, at times placing all the blame on the perpetrators themselves and elsewhere claiming that the solution to the problem is to be hospitable to the hooligans. Brimson continually denounces hooligan culture, but occasionally seems nostalgic in his remembrance of his days running with the mob. He denounces those who are making money off the problem (the media, the police), but initially acknowledges that he himself has made a good living being a "hooligan authority". Some of his ideas are good, such as the "proper" fans needing to exert more pressure on the clubs, but most are lost in the extended tirade that comprises the book.

My favorite bit was where he dismisses the efforts of academics studying the problem. "What else can an anthropologist do but teach another anthropologist?" Study people like Brimson, perhaps. I'd read that book.

	UC Berkeley, 1996-2001 If you look really close, you'll see the last days of the little silver hoop in my left ear.
	UC San Francisco, 1996-2001 Dorky Ted is overly thrilled to be having his UCSF ID photo taken.
	Massachusetts General Hospital, 2001-2003 The infamous "Ted smoking a big doobie" ID.
	Stanford, 2003- Veronica claims i've got that "deer in the headlights" look going in this one.

Been working at such a fever pitch that i've had little chance to convey my first week with the enemy ... ahem, Stanford. It's been a week lived at a breakneck speed, and just when i think i'm beginning to get a handle on it, someone pops in my office door and drops another bombshell. But it's very exciting to be at the outset of the development of a molecular imaging program in radiation oncology.

First off, the practical issues. I do indeed at last have an office. And it's freakin' huge! I'm not talking Gordon Gecko, corner-office Manhattan huge, but for someone who's been crammed in with 2-8 other people for the last seven years, it's big for me. I moved in all my textbooks and papers from home along with assorted photos and toys, and the place still looks empty. Also, i've got a window, a concept only dreamed of during my time in the basement of the parking garage at UCSF. And it actually looks out on a nice little courtyard. From the pic you can also spot my dated by still fully-functional air conditioner. But i'd better not get too attached, as the whole department will be moving to a brand new building early next year.

In addition to the office, i've been getting showered with all the other marks of responsiblity ... pager, lab coat, secretary, discretionary funds, yadda³. I keep wondering how i got here. As for work, it's been a lot of me listening to people as i try to piece together my role here. I'm making progress though, and hope to have my first seed grant proposal done by next week. I've also had to reject my first postdoc applicant, another sobering experience that has me wondering how i ever came into possession of any form of authority.

Everyone here has been incredibly friendly so far though. I got an unexpected department breakfast in my honor on my first day last Friday, and have been introduced to so many people it makes my head hurt.

Zooming along on the expressway to adulthood ...

Manchester United has accepted a £15 million bid for Argentinian playmaker Juan Sebastian Veron from Chelsea, making him the fourth midfielder we've signed this summer. I dunno, i just can't picture Seba being happy in West London. Moreover, i'm finding it difficult to get excited about a player who i was enjoying for the past few seasons as he caused all kinds of furor in Manchester over his impact (or lack thereof). At least we contributed to United's £13 million loss on the player though.

Okay, the cash infusion into Chelsea afforded by the club's purchase by Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich is naturally a Very Good Thing. Being able to buy players is of course better than being crippled by debt. But let's take a look at the Chelsea midfield. Returning are Jesper Grønkjaer, Frank Lampard, Emmanuel Petit, Mario Stanic, and Boudewijn Zenden, a very solid group indeed. This summer we've spent £17 million on Damien Duff and £7 million on Geremi, two fantastic players as well. Just today it was announced that Chelsea have reach an agreement with West Ham to buy Joe Cole for £6.6 million. And constantly swirling are the rumors that we may also snatch Juan Sebastian Veron from Manchester United. So that makes 8 world class midfielders. Now, we can field 4 or 5 a match, and we should try to establish a consistent squad of starters, so that means 3 or 4 are left on the bench week in, week out. I see trouble brewing.

The situation with the defense is not much better. Celestine Babayaro, Marcel Desailly, William Gallas, Mario Melchiot, and John Terry will be competing with new arrivals Wayne Bridge (£7 million) and Glen Johnson (£6 million) for the 4 or 5 starting spots. Problem is, Chelsea has always been in need of strikers, moreso now that Stamford Bridge icon Gianfranco Zola has returned to Italy. But there's been nary a bid, lest any interest, in forwards this offseason (save for an audacious and somewhat far-fetched attempt to pry Raul from Real Madrid). Eidur Gudjohnsen and Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink will hopefully shoulder the load, with some assistance from blossoming youngsters Mikael Forsell and Carlton Cole.

On the upside, looking at the squad as a whole right now, i'm getting more and more antsy about seeing this super-squad finally take the pitch.