Rebelution

Outside house of blues, waiting and excited to see rebelution!

Podcasts!

I know I'm probably, no make that definitely, the last person on earth to discover podcasts. I don't mean that I discovered them, I've known they exist for quite some time, but I mean that I really come to realize how great and awesome they are. 

All of a sudden it's become clear to me what to do with all those spare minutes I have, for example walking to and from campus, dmv lines, any lines for that matter. The other great thing about them is that they are audio. I know that sounds dumb, we've had radio and ipods forever. But I've really lost the urge to read anything. I think grad school does that to some people... I just cannot for the life of me muster up the energy to pick up a magazine or a news paper or a book for that matter, and I only read the highlights on google news. Pathetic right?! But now... a whole new medium has opened up for me!

I'm now in some kind of podcast frenzy where I'm subscribing to new ones every day, there's just so much out there! Today I listened to an arabic class on my way to campus and the economist on my way home. Tomorrow I'm thinking NPR's Science Friday.

Any tips? What am I missing in my podcast subscriptions, what are the must-haves?

Sicko...

So, I got sick over the weekend... It all started with Ramzi and I planning a weekend get-away early in the quarter before we get too busy. Neither of us had ever been to Lake Tahoe and we love skiing (or snowboarding in Ramzi's case), so we figured we'd go all the way up to Tahoefor a weekend of fun.

We rented a van, got some friends onboard, some of which we picked up in the bay area on the way up there, everything was going smoothly until Ramzi starts getting sick on the way up there. About 5 hours into the drive he's really sick and we still have another 5 hours to go. He's taking every medication we can think of to get better, but by the time we make it up to Tahoe, which is sometime Friday afternoon, he has a really high fever and is sniffling and coughing like crazy!

I'm taking care of my poor bf the best I can, while still having fun with the rest of the gang. I enjoy a full day of skiing on Saturday (see previous posts), while Ramzi is at the hotel recovering. During dinner Saturday evening, I for some reason feel the urge to boast about my awesome immune system. I apparently thought that it was so obvious that my immune system is the best. I was so close to Ramzi and yet, not getting sick, it would have shown by then right... and so on...

Sunday comes and I wake up with a dry throat and a dry cough :( In Greek mythology, they would explain what happened to me as a common case of hubris. Ramzi is feeling a little better and we make it up to the slopes. We do a few runs, and the cold, dry air is burning in my throat. Both of us feel exhausted by lunch time. We sit down in the umbrella bar on the Nevada side to rest. I start feeling better in the heat and order beers. I drink two, and then I'm starting to feel really sick. I'm almost fainting walking from the bar to the restroom. Another good call on my side: when too sick to ski - drink some beer! 

That night we drive home, or rather Steve, Ramzi, and Michael drive home while I sleep in the backseat. We make it home 4am Monday morning, and I spent most of Monday filling my body with cough medicine and vitamins. Ramzi installed a humidifier, because on top of everything else, southern california is having a heat wave which includes dry desert air, which is like inhaling glass fiber when you have a cold. 

Tuesday, I make it to campus, but got sent home by my advisor, because it's obvious I'm of no use in my current shape. Today, I've been trying to do work, while continuing to take every cold medicine in our medicine cabinet, and I must say I am getting a little better!

Lessons learned: Always quarantine yourself before going on a trip and watch out for hubris!

Heavenly

The ski resort, Heavenly, is located on the boarder between California
and Nevada. You can clearly see the desert to the east on the Nevada
side and the snowy woods on the ca side. We skied both sides!

Skiing in tahoe

We finally made it to the top and the view is spectacular. Now off to
some skiing!!

State of crisis...

Sacramento Capitol building

Quick lunch break in the capital of california. Got to see arnold's
office and all.

On our way to tahoe...

We just started driving from the bay area up to lake tahoe for some
skiing.

Sunday chilling

Just dropped my parents off at the airport and waiting to pick up
Mazen a few hours later. We're making good use of the time by having
an excellent southern lunch at BBQ joe's followed by frost/nixon at a
nearby theater.

Old time theaters are the best

Inside the Chinese theater in Hollywood, ready to watch "yes, man".

Chinese theater Hollywood