Seems like these days i keep thinking of things to post, but then never find the time to post them. Since i've got a few spare minutes here, i'll try to recap the last week or so.

On Thursday the 15th, Michelle and four of her high school English students drove up from LA so they could survey Bay Area colleges and have a mini-vacation. "Catholic high school [boys] in trouble", to paraphrase Kentucky Fried Movie. They showed up in SM just in time to catch the finale of The Apprentice, which i'd started watching despite my belief that reality shows have now entered the sub-septic tank phase. On Friday Veronica and i hopped off to work while they headed to Berkeley. That evening i relaxed at home with Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow while V and the gang drove down to Santa Cruz to catch the (International) Noise Conspiracy. By their accounts a very good show. V worked again that Saturday while i took the M and the boys to Stanford. They then headed to the city, where Veronica and i met them later for a meal. They had expressed an interest in getting some good Chinese food in Chinatown, to which i replied "Well, do you want good Chinese food, or do you want to go to Chinatown?" We ended up at the Golden Dragon on Washington St. and had a truly mediocre dinner of sweet and sour chicken, hot and sour soup, and mushu pork accompanied by some really awful service. Exiting Chinatown, with the boys now armed with six boxes of those little popping/cracking things that look like spitballs, V and i relived old memories by introducing everyone to the earthquake sundae at Ghirardelli Square. The evening closed with a short trip to the Golden Gate Bridge at 11pm, where the guys used up the majority of their poppers, much to the annoyance of the lone sightseeing couple. Veronica took a stab at the contents of their conversation: "My darling *POP!* will you ma*CRACK!*rry me?" They left for LA the following morning. It was good to see Michelle for a few days, and realize how old i've become.

That afternoon i met up with Michael and Danny and did a bit of tux shopping for the wedding, which is now just 14 short weeks away. We made a slight misjudgement in planning this outing, not realizing that it was April, common month for high school proms, which generally take place on Friday or Saturday. This meant that the tux shops were overflowing with high schoolers returning their zoot suits (or worse). We weren't able to try anything on, but did come away with a clear idea of how we want to dress up the groom, groomsmen, and officiant. I spent that evening preparing for a presentation the next morning to the Stanford radiobiology faculty, discussing my plans for research on the development of molecular imaging techniques for radiobiology. It went over fairly well ... the comments i received ("you need a goal, no one will fund you to develop this imaging stuff just for the sake of developing it") were more or less what i expected. Although, as my colleague encouraged me later, it was a bit odd since it was obvious i was presenting the material to biologists so they could tell me what it could be used for. With that weight off my back, i spent the rest of the week preparing for PET training, which just took place on Monday and Tuesday of this week. I've got a few more presentations on my plate also: this Saturday morning we're having a faculty meeting to discuss submitting a program project grant focusing on imaging in radiotherapy. Right up my alley, so i have two talks to generate before then.

Back to reality TV, i've taken an unhealthy interest in The Swan lately. Strange, because i have next to no interest in its slightly more reputable cousin Extreme Makeovers. Despite the crassness of the Fox version (give women new bodies, faces, and looks so they can compete against each other in a beauty pageant???), they do deal with one element of the transformations that ABC overlooks: psychology. A lot of these women have serious emotional problems, ones that aren't going to go away because they suddenly look good. The Swan at least includes therapy sessions as part of the process, something that i haven't seen in Extreme Makeovers. Of course, that kindness can easily be overlooked when you see the trashy outcomes of most of the Swan makeovers. The two women on the first episode looked ready to start turning tricks.

This past Thursday Veronica and i had sake, Sapporo, and sushi with Michael at Kitaro on Geary. A little preliminary meeting to discuss the details of our wedding ceremony, but moreover a chance to hang. Veronica then absconded to Popscene, giving me yet more opportunities to foil terrorists in Splinter Cell and annoy Cobi in the process. I'm almost positive we did something Friday night too, but i am completely blanking for some reason.

That god awful redhead just got booted from American Idol. That he lasted this long is surely a testament to the hordes of senior citizens who do nothing but watch television and waste money on things like voting in reality shows.

As Hilary alluded to in a previous comment, my last Saturday was spent with baby sis going to see the San Jose Sharks take on Hilary's favorite Colorado Avalanche in the Stanley Cup playoffs (ice hockey, for those of you who are sports-impaired). Gary had invited me to the game on Thursday, but then discovered he had to work and would be unable to go. He gave me both tickets so i called Hilary down in San Diego, who immediately booked a Southwest flight up. Therein lies the depth of her love for the Avs. She wore her jersey to the game, despite frequent derision from the San Jose faithful. After suffering a 5-2 beating on Thursday, she was hoping the Avalanche would rebound. They took the lead in the first period, "against the run of play" as a footie fan would put it. However, early in the second period they got caught on a power play and the scores were level. Colorado's defense proceeded to disintegrate, giving up two more goals and a late empty netter to make the final score 4-1. Hilary suffered valiantly, taking the abuse of the guy in front of us who turned around after the goal to make it 2-1 and pointed at her, shouting "Backbreaker!" A nearby Avs fan actually took off her jersey somewhere around 3-1. Traitor. On the way out, Hilary was subjected to more slings and arrows. A trio of young guys started shouting "Yeah, that's right!" as we walked to the car. We taunted them a bit, saying "what's right?", which seemed to irk them. Hilary really pissed off one of them by making a comment about his hot pink t-shirt. As i told her, the perfect response is that she had the guts to support her team in a hostile environment. Let's see some of these bozos go to Denver and wear Sharks jerseys.

That night V and i met up with old friend Lucy for some tapas and sangria at Thirsty Bear in SF. I noted that my sinuses were rapidly clogging, and correctly predicted that the following day i would be in the midst of a full-on cold. So Sunday i did nothing but watch movies ... 80's classic Ruthless People, the wonderful Elmore Leonard comedy Get Shorty (which prompted me to go pick up a bunch of old Booker T & the MG's records), and a really crappy movie from 1999 about subcultures in Utah, SLC Punk!. I couldn't tell whether the hypocrisy and vacuousness of the punks' pseudo-philosophy was supposed to be at the forefront, which for me it certainly was. At any rate, Stevo's choice at the end of the movie is more than a little hard to swallow. Monday morning i wasn't feeling much better, but PET training at Stanford with a GE applications engineer beckoned so i was forced to get up at 6:30am and head down to Palo Alto. Tuesday, same story. With training over, today i was able to sleep in, getting up at 10am and going up to UCSF to pick up my long overdue diploma and see a talk given by Umar Mahmood, a colleague from the CMIR in Boston.

Mandatory topic of discussion: Chelsea gave up two late goals in the first leg of their Champions League semifinal with Monaco, losing 3-1. Next Tuesday is the return leg at Stamford Bridge, with the Blues needing a 2-nil win to advance on away goals, or needing to win by more than 2 goals to advance on goal difference. Not impossible, but it's going to be a rough climb. The loss may have sealed embattled manager Claudio Ranieri's fate, and at this point i can't say i would mind seeing him go. He's certainly suffered through a bad situation with new owner Roman Abramovich looking for any excuse to replace him, and he's done it with impeccable class. However, his tendency to tinker with the squad is something i've never liked, and it bit us in the ass against Monaco. Our substandard league play has continued also, losing to Newcastle last weekend and only remaining in second place because Manchester United also fell.

Veronica was able to secure three tickets to the Pixies show in Davis tomorrow, warmup for their performance at Coachella this weekend. So Gary, V, and i will be driving up to Sacto. The two of them are off in SF at the moment, seeing Kraftwerk at the Warfield. I had a ticket to that as well, but opted to relax at home. And catch up on my blog!