After playing some more Xbox 360 at home, Veronica dropped me off at SFO on her way to work on Friday morning, and i flew off to Atlanta, GA. I was curious about the "purchase upgrade with miles" option on the e-checkin booth, and investigating further found i had over 16,000 miles on my frequent flier account, so i gleefully accepted the offer to move into first class for a measly 8,000 miles. However, it turns out i was among 33 other people who had done the same, competing for a paltry 8 first class seats. So i was relegated to the usual coach seat, unfortunately on the aisle as a travel agent had done the booking for me. And of course my neighbor had to get up repeatedly to use the bathroom ... grr. I passed the time reading my latest issue of Electronic Gaming Monthly and listening to my iPod. I arrived at Atlanta International, grabbed my suitcase, and hopped in a taxi just before the skies opened up in a torrential thunderstorm. East coast rain, mind you, not this piddly shit that passes for a storm in California. A crack of lightning touched ground maybe a quarter mile from our taxi as we crawled along the freeway, scaring the crap out of both me and the cabbie. I got to my quite posh room at the Marriot Marquis around 7:30pm eastern time, ordered some room service, and whiled away the evening reacquainting myself with my PSP and SOCOM: Fireteam Bravo.

I had arranged to meet my Stanford colleague Sandip at 7am the next morning, which came incredibly early both because of the time zone and because i got sucked into watching Goodfellas on TNT the night before. We took the hotel shuttle over to the Georgia Convention Center and the American Society of Clinical Oncology meeting. I felt privileged to register at the faculty room, even for the first time getting a special "faculty" ribbon to affix to my meeting badge. We partook of the faculty continental breakfast spread then headed to separate sessions. The meeting is a bit too clinical for my tastes ... endless descriptions of drug trials with barely perceptible improvements in treating cancer. Only a smattering of imaging besides the session Sandip and i are in on Tuesday morning, scattered across the huge conference. We reconnoitered and headed back to the hotel for lunch at the sports bar and an afternoon of lounging. We both wanted to try some southern food for dinner, and were recommended Gladys Knight & Ron Winan's Chicken and Waffles by our concierge, a mere five blocks from the hotel. I was unsure if it would be a good choice as it looked a little chain-ish, but it was fabulous. I've always been curious of the pairing of chicken with waffles, but decided to go with it and get the chicken wings and waffle combo. Sandip and i split an appetizer of catfish tenders, and sides of collard greens and fried corn with jalapeno. Mmmmmm. That was arguably the best waffle i've ever had, and oddly enough the syrup-drenched cake went great with wings and hot sauce.

Today Sandip and i had tickets for the Braves game, the finale of their home series against the Arizona Diamondbacks. I managed to get seats in the second row just past the infield, which were awesome. Best i've ever had for a ballgame. In the first two innings alone there were four or five foul balls hit within ten feet of us. Luckily none that would've caused any serious damage had they hit us unaware. Mostly slow rollers into foul territory that the folks in the row in front of us reached over the barrier to snag. The Braves got creamed 9-3, giving up a homer in the first at-bat of the game. They were in it at 5-3 going into the ninth, but their closer Chris Reitsma gave up a single, double, and two home runs in the ninth, putting the game out of reach. Fun nonetheless though ... i picked up a nice red Braves cap, and had a beer and brat for lunch. We're off for another southern dinner and a movie later this evening. I've got to finish my 15 minute talk sometime before 9:15am Tuesday, but that shouldn't be too hard ... it's a condensed version of the 45 minute talk i gave at the AMI in March.

*Sigh* ... feeling very relaxed at the moment. Better enjoy it before returning to the Bay to get that R21 resubmission together.

Our Stanford recreational softball team, "the Rays", had its first game the Thursday before i left. Our motley crew of softball novices played admirably but expectedly got beat somewhere in the neighborhood of 15-1. I was proud of my play at first, and was equally proud of the girls we had manning the left side of the infield, who despite their inexperience with the game made a number of great plays. I also got two base hits, the latter coming just before our player/coach Fred hit a towering drive that scored me from first. Unfortunately, Fred tried to stretch it into a home run and was tagged out at the plate for the last out of the game. Fun though. Coupled with the basketball games Fred and i are planning on playing with Sandip and co., i may regain my athleticism yet.