Posting every 2-4 years.  One of the things, I'm most excited about is to go to Cosm.  Plan to blog about it if I ever got tickets to NBA opening night.

I'm currently in a phase where I'm learning how to cook. One of my realizations is that my knife skills are horrible.  Interestingly enough, for safety reasons it is important to have a sharp knife that keeps its edge.  After a lot of research, I came up with 2 basic knives and a knife sharpener:

- Kiwi vs. Victorinox paring knife

- Kiwi Chef knife vs. Victorinox 8'' Modern Chef knife

- Smith's knife sharpening system

Key is to try to find the honing angle 15 degrees for Asian knives and 20 degrees for Victorinox 

Helen Rennie has sharpening video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cl2L5aKdVVM

https://www.amazon.com/Wedgek-Ceramic-Thick-Angle-Guides/dp/B084T56BF8

 Ah .... 3 years has passed since I last blogged.  I've also resuscitated my old Minnesota email.

The big news on the gardening front is that we have finally received clippings for passion fruit.  I'm crossing my fingers that we (actually my wife) will be able to make it grow.

So many random memories from reading through old emails.  There were definitely memories that I have suppressed.  

Foe example, there was the time that I commented on the volcanic eruption in the Congo to a friend who has done medical missions work there.  Another memory was when I organized a trip to see the Degas exhibition at the Minneapolis Institute of Art.  Don't know if I will keep up blogging, but it was so cool to reminisce on random tidbits in my life.

Back to resuming blogging.  

One of the things that I want to impart to my kids is that they can truly do anything.  With little H, I want him to know that he can exclaim the Good News with confidence. With big R, she has grandiose dreams and visions and I truly love it.  No limits ....

This is my theme song for the moment

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M_3yoOU3-eQ

Bicycling

"The voluptuous pleasure that cycling can give you is delicate, intimate, and ephemeral. It arrives, it takes hold of you, sweeps you up then leaves you again.  It is for you alone.  It is a combination of speed and ease, force and grace. It is pure happiness."

- Jean Bobet

By September 1, 2015

1. Weigh 158 lbs from 160 lbs
2. Learn to bunnyhop

By October 1, 2015

1.  Weigh 155 lbs
2. Learn to track stand

I've decided to resume blogging again, but I'm not sure how long it will last.

There are a couple of things that I would like to do in 2016

1. Garden.  Hence the name of this blog.

2. Bicycling.

Gardening

I've been inspired by my mom and my best friend Dave who has started a garden plot.   The holy grail has been the cultivation for tomatoes, but didn't do so hot on my first try.  Here is a list for planting dates from TAMU

Recommended Vegetable Cultivars For North Central Texas

Prepared by:
Dr. Nancy Roe Extension Horticulturist
Dr. Jerry Parsons Extension Horticulturist
Dr. Larry Stein Extension Horticulturist
Dr. Sam Cotner Extension Horticulturist Planting dates apply to the Dallas/Ft. Worth area and refer to the planting of seed unless otherwise indicated. South of the Metroplex (i.e. in the Corsicana area), you can plant 5 days earlier in the spring. North of the Metroplex (i.e. in the Wichita Falls area and along the Red River), spring planting should be 5 days later than the dates shown.
Listed cultivars were selected for their productivity, resistance to common diseases and adaptability to north central Texas conditions. Proper watering, fertilization, weed control, etc., are necessary, however, if the desired results are to be achieved. Cultivars are listed at random, not in order of preference.

Asparagus (Asparagus officinalis)

Jersey Giant, UC 157

Planting dates: (spring only) crowns, February 15 - March 1

Beans, Snap Bush (Phaseolus vulgaris var. humilis)

Blue Lake 274, Top Crop, Tendercrop, Contender, Tendergreen, Derby

Planting dates:

spring: March 20 - May 1
fall: August 1 - September 1

Beans, Yellow Bush (Phaseolus vulgaris var. humilis)

Goldcrop, Improved Golden Wax

Planting dates:

spring: March 20 - May 1
fall: August 1 - September 1

Beans, Pinto (Phaseolus vulgaris)

Improved Pinto

Planting dates:

spring: March 20 - May 1
fall: August 1 - September 1

Beans, Snap Pole (Phaseolus vulgaris)

Blue Lake, Kentucky Wonder

Planting dates:

spring: March 20 - April 20
fall: August 1 - August 15

Beans, Lima Bush (Phaseolus limensis var. limenanus)

Henderson Baby Bush, Jackson Wonder

Planting dates: (spring only) March 20 - April 20

Beans, Lima Pole (Phaseolus limensis)

Florida Speckled, King of the Garden

Planting dates: spring only, March 20 - April 20

Beets (Beta vulgaris)

Pacemaker III

Planting dates:

spring: February 10 - March 1
fall: September 1 - September 15

Broccoli (Brassica oleracea var. botrytis)

spring only: Premium Crop, Emperor

spring or fall: Green Comet, Galaxy, Packman, Baccus, Early Dawn

Planting dates:

spring: transplants, February 15 - March 1
fall:
seed: August 1 - August 15
transplants: August 20 - September 15

Brussels Sprouts (Brassica oleracea var. gemmifera)

Prince Marvel, Royal Marvel

Planting dates:(fall only)
seed: August 1 - August 15
transplants: August 20 - September 15

Cabbage (Brassica oleracea var. capitata)

spring only: Early Jersey Wakefield

spring or fall: Sanibel, Rapid Ball, Savoy Ace (wrinkled leaves), Ruby Ball (red color)

Planting dates:

spring: transplants, February 15 - March 1
fall:
seed: August 1 - August 15
transplants: August 20 - September 15

Cabbage, Chinese (Brassica pekinensis)

Jade Pagoda, Michihili, China Flash (napa type), China Pride (napa type)

Planting dates:

spring: February 15 - March 1
fall: August 10 - September 1

Cantaloupe (Cucumis melo var. cantalupensis)

hybrids: Magnum 45, Ambrosia, Mission, Explorer, Caravelle, Minnesota Midget (bush type, good in containers)

non-hybrids: Uvalde, Perlita

Planting dates:

spring: April 5 - May 1
fall: June 15 - July 1

Carrot (Daucus carota var. sativus)

Royal Chantenay, Burpee's Toudo, Park's Nandor, Danver's 126, Red Cored Chantenay

Planting dates:

spring: February 10 - March 1
fall: August 15 - September 5

Cauliflower (Brassica oleracea var. botrytis)

Snow Crown

Planting dates:

spring: transplants, February 15 - March 1
fall:
seed: August 1 - August 15
transplants: August 20 - September 15

Chard, Swiss (Beta vulgaris var. cicla)

Rhubarb (red color), Lucullus, Fordhook

Planting dates:

spring: February 10 - March 10
fall: August 1 - September 1

Collards (Brassica oleracea var. acephala)

Blue Max, Georgia

Planting dates:

spring: February 10 - April 1
fall: August 1 - September 1

Corn, Sweet (Zea mays var. saccharata)

yellow: Golden Queen, Guadalupe Gold bicolor: Sweet G-90, Honey & Pearls white: Silver Queen, Frontier

Planting dates:

spring: March 20 - May 1 fall: August 1 - August 15

Cucumber, Pickling (Cucumis sativus)

County Fair 87, Liberty, Saladin

Planting dates:

spring: March 20 - May 1 fall: August 1 - August 15

Cucumber, Slicing(Cucumis sativus)

Sweet Success, Sweet Slice, County Fair 87, Burpless, Dasher II, Slicemaster

Planting dates:

spring: March 20 - May 1
fall: August 1 - August 15

Eggplant (Solanum melongena var. esculentum)

Tycoon (oriental), Florida Market

Planting dates:

spring: transplants, April 5 - May 1
fall:
seed: June 15 - July 1
transplants: July 1 - July 25

Garlic (Allium sativum)

Texas White

Planting dates:

fall only: cloves, September 15 - October 15

Greens (hybrid of Chinese cabbage x stubble turnip)

Tyfon Holland

Planting dates:

spring: February 10 - March 10
fall: August 25 - October 1

Kale (Brassica oleracea var. acephala)

Dwarf Blue Curled, Blue Knight

Planting dates:

spring: February 10 - March 10
fall: August 25 - October 1

Kohlrabi (Brassica oleracea var. gongylodes)

Grand Duke

Planting dates:

spring:
seed: February 10 - March 1
transplants: February 15 - March 1
fall
seed, August 1 - August 25

Leeks (Allium ampeloprasum var. porrum )

American Flag

Planting dates:

spring: seed, February 10 - February 25
fall: seed, September 10 - October 1

Lettuce, Butterhead (Lactuca sativa)

spring or fall: Buttercrunch

fall only: Tom Thumb

Planting dates:

spring: February 10 - March 15
fall: August 15 - September 10

Lettuce, Head (Lactuca sativa)

Classic, Park's Mission

Planting dates:

spring: February 10 - March 1
fall: August 15 - September 1

Lettuce, Leaf (Lactuca sativa)

Salad Bowl, Black Seeded Simpson, Red Sails (red color)

Planting dates:

spring: February 10 - March 15
fall: August 15 - September 15

Lettuce, Cos or Romaine (Lactuca sativa)

Romaine

Planting dates:

spring: February 10 - March 15
fall: August 15 - September 15

Mustard (Brassica juncea)

Florida Broadleaf, Southern Giant Curled, Tendergreen

Planting dates:

spring: February 15 - April 1
fall: August 1 - September 10

Okra (Abelmoschus esculentus)

Blondy, Lee, Emerald, Clemson Spineless

Planting dates:

spring: April 5 - June 1
fall: July 15 - August 15

Onion, Bulbing (Allium cepa)

yellow: Texas Supersweet (Grano 1015Y), Yellow Granex

red: Red Granex, Burgundy

white: Crystal Wax, White Granex

Planting dates:

seed: sow previous year September 10 - October 1
transplants: plant current year February 10 - March 5

Onion, Bunching [Scallions] (Allium cepa)

Beltsville Bunching

Planting dates:

seed: sow current year February 10 - March 1

Parsley (Petroselinum crispum)

Moss Curled, Plain (Italian)

Planting dates:

spring: February 10 - March 5
fall: August 1 - October 1

Peas, English (Pisum sativum)

Little Marvel, Wando, Dwarf Gray Sugar

Planting dates:

spring: February 10 - March 1
fall: September 1 - October 1

Peas, Edible-Podded (Pisum sativum var. macrocarpon)

spring only: Sugar Snap (bush)

spring or fall: Sugar Ann (bush), Sugar Pop (bush), Super Sugar Mel (vine)

Planting dates:

spring: February 10 - March 1
fall: September 1 - October 1

Peas, Southern (Vigna unguiculata subspecies unguiculata)

Blackeye #5, Mississippi Silver, Purple Hull, Zipper Cream Crowder, Colossus Crowder

Planting dates:

spring: April 1 - May 20
fall: July 1 - August 1

Pepper, Hot (Capsicum annuum var. longum)

Super Chili, Hungarian Yellow Wax, Long Red or SlimCayenne, Hidalgo Serrano, Jalapeno, TAM Mild Jalapeno

Planting dates:

spring: transplants, April 1 - May 1
fall: transplants, July 1 - July 25

Pepper, Sweet Bell (Capsicum annuum var. grossum)

green: Big Bertha, Jupiter (mature color: red), SummerSweet 860 (mature color: yellow)

yellow: Golden Summer

purple: Purple Belle

Planting dates:

spring: transplants, April 1 - May 1
fall: transplants, July 1 - July 25

Pepper, Sweet Salad (Capsicum annuum var. cerasiforme)

Gypsy, Sweet Pickle, Cubanelle, Top Banana

Planting dates:

spring: transplants, April 1 - May 1
fall: transplants, July 1 - July 25

Potato, Irish (Solanum tuberosum)

red: Norland (early season), Red LaSoda (midseason)

white: Kennebec (late season)

Planting dates:

spring: seed pieces, February 15 - March 1
fall: seed pieces, July 25 - August 10

Potato, Sweet (Ipomoea batatas)

Jewell, Centennial, Vardaman

Planting dates: (spring only) slips, April 15 - May 15

Pumpkin (Cucurbita pepo var. pepo)

Connecticut Field, Spirit, Small Sugar, Autumn Gold, Jack Be Little (ornamental)

Planting dates:

spring: April 1 - April 20
fall:
for large pumpkins June 15 - July 15
for small pumpkins July 15 - August 15

Radish (Raphanus sativus)

red: Inca, Champion, Cherry Belle

white: White Icicle, Snow Belle

Planting dates:

spring: February 5 - May 1
fall: September 1 - November 1

Rutabaga (Brassica napus var. napobrassica)

American Purple Top

Planting dates:

spring: February 1 - April 1
fall: August 1 - October 15

Spinach (Spinacia oleracea)

Melody, Coho, Iron Duke

Planting dates:

spring: February 10 - March 15
fall: August 1 - October 15

Squash, Summer(Cucurbita pepo var. melopepo)

Multipik, Dixie, Sun Drops, Burpee's Butterstick

Planting dates:

spring: March 25 - May 1
fall: August 1 - August 25

Squash, Summer Pan-Type (Curcurbita pepo var. melopepo)

yellow: Sunburst

white: Patty Pan

green: Peter Pan

Planting dates:

spring: March 25 - May 1
fall: August 1 - August 25

Sqaush, Winter (Cucurbita moschata)

Early Butternut, Sweet Mama, Table Ace, Table King Bush Acorn, Cream of the Crop

Planting dates:

spring: March 25 - May 1
fall: July 1 - August 10

Squash, Zucchini (Cucurbita pepo var. melopepo)

green: Senator, President

yellow: Goldrush

Planting dates:

spring: March 25 - May 1
fall: August 1 - August 25

Note Regarding Tomatoes: Cultivars listed as determinate are the bush type whereas those listed as indeterminate are the vining type. "A" indicates genetic resistance to Alternaria, "F1" to Fusarium wilt race 1, "F2" to Fusarium wilt race 2, "N" to root knot nematodes, "S" to Stemphylium (gray leaf spot), "T" to tobacco mosaic virus, "V" to Verticillium wilt.

Tomatoes, Large-Fruited (Lycopersicon esculentum)

spring:

determinate: Celebrity VFNT, Carnival VFNT, Surefire VF1, President VFNT, Merced VF1F2ST, Heatwave VF1F2SA
indeterminate: Champion VFNT, Quick Pick VFNT, Simba VFNT, First Lady VFNT, Superfantastic VFN

fall:

determinate: Surefire VF1, Heatwave VF1F2SA

Planting dates:

spring: transplants, March 25 - April 15
fall: transplants, July 1 - July 25

Tomatoes, Paste (Lycopersicon esculentum)

indeterminate: Roma VF, San Marzano

Planting dates:

spring: transplants, March 25 - April 15
fall: transplants, July 1 - July 25

Tomatoes, Small-Fruited (Lycopersicon esculentum var. cerasiforme)

determinate: Small Fry VFN

indeterminate: Porter, Cherry Grande, Sweet 100

Planting dates:

spring: transplants, March 25 - April 15
fall: transplants, July 1 - July 25

Turnip (Brassica rapa var. rapifera)

spring or fall: Tokyo Cross, Royal Globe II, White Lady

fall only: Just Right

Planting dates:

spring: February 10 - March 10
fall: August 25 - October 15

Watermelon (Citrullus lanatus)

regular: Crimson Sweet, Sugar Baby, Royal Jubilee, Royal Sweet, Orange Golden, Star Brite

triploid or seedless (transplants only)

Jack of Hearts, Supersweet 5032, Tiffany

Planting dates:

spring: March 25 - May 1
fall: June 15 - July 1

Obtained this from GRS. Template about starting a new garden.


How to Grow Your First Garden
J.D. Roth Apr 23, 2011 6:00 AM - Show original item
This guest post is from Jane Sanders of DebtManagement, a writer whose two biggest passions are gardening and personal finance.
Starting a vegetable garden can be one of the most rewarding hobbies you ever pursue. Gardening is a source of relaxation and exercise, while yielding hundreds of dollars worth of fresh and delicious produce. It’s also extremely rewarding to watch the seeds you plant and care for grow into mature plants.
If you’re ready to take the plunge and start your first vegetable garden, this article will help you understand what you’re getting into and the steps you’ll need to take to make it to that first harvest.
The garden in summer
Things to Consider Before You Start
Gardening, especially for those without experience, goes a lot better if planned properly beforehand. So before you take a shovel to your front yard, here are some important questions to consider:
What kinds of produce do you enjoy?The ultimate product of a garden is fruit, vegetables, and herbs, so it’s important to plants crops that you’ll be happy to consume after harvest. Different types of crops also take different amounts of time and effort to harvest. In general:
Fruit plants are perennials, meaning that the plants live on for many years but often take years of growth before they yield any fruit.
Vegetables are usually annuals, meaning the plants die at the end of each season, but that they’ll yield a crop immediately.
Herbs are known for being particularly easy to grow so they’re usually a good choice for beginners.
When you consider a crop to plant, it’s important that you research its life cycle and requirements. For beginners, the best way to start is usually annuals, so you can to see the rewards of your labor within a single growing season. A great place to start is with herbs and salad vegetables and eventually work your way up to fruit trees and other perennials.
Which plants grow well where you live?Different plants have different requirements in terms of soil, amount of sunlight, and level of moisture. It’s important that you research which plants can grow well in the climate you inhabit to avoid planting a crop that’s doomed from the beginning. You can search the web for this information, or even better, ask experienced gardeners in your town or neighborhood which plants they’ve had success with in the past. Gardeners are usually happy to discuss their past crops and getting local information is ideal.
How much space do you have available for planting?Another important concern is the space where your garden will be planted. Many people are hesitant to dig up large portions of their yard, or aren’t allowed to because they don’t own the property themselves. One excellent option for beginners is container gardening. This means growing plants in pots or raised beds, rather than directly in the earth. Container gardening offers flexibility because the mobility of the containers allows you to rearrange their location, keep aggressive growers contained, move plants between areas with varying levels of sunlight, and start plants indoors before the climate outside becomes hospitable.
In you want to learn more about container gardening, Get Rich Slowly has previously reviewed The Bountiful Container, a guide to container gardening that is accessible to beginners but contains enough detail to benefit experienced gardeners.
How much time and money do you want to commit?Like most hobbies, gardening requires an investment to get started. Fortunately, you’ll be able to get some if not all of it back from the produce you harvest. The largest investment is required when you start your first garden because you’ll need to purchase tools and supplies for the first time.
Depending on the scope of your project, the tools you’ll need might include:
Shovel
Rake
Tiller
Mattock
Pruners
Other important supplies include:
Seeds
Young plants
Fertilizer
Soil
pH Test
Stakes
Containers, or lumber and other hardware for constructing containers
While some supplies need to be purchased every year, most tools will last for many years (especially if you buy quality), so the investment you’ll need to make in subsequent years will be much smaller.
Starting a garden also takes a lot of time and effort, particularly at the beginning of the season when you’ll do all your planning, soil preparation, and planting. For this reason I recommend starting small. It’s much better to take on a bit less than you can handle than to try doing too much, getting burned out, and leaving your garden unfinished. If you do well, you can always expand the following year.
Images of summer…
Purchasing Seeds and Young Plants
The first step of garden preparation is usually purchasing seeds and young plants. The easiest way to do this is usually through mail-order catalogs or websites, but you could also buy from a local supply store.
You should consider a number of factors when putting in your order:
What produce you want at harvest time
Which plants are easy to grow from seed and which ones you are better off ordering as young plants
Soil temperature
Amount of sunlight
Space and soil requirements
Depending on the climate in your area, you might also want to start off your plants indoors and transfer them outside once it’s warm enough. (Obviously, it’s too late in the season to do that for 2011.) It’s impossible to say exactly what the best seed order is because it depends on your personal preferences, climate, and other unique factors. Considering all this and creating your own order is one of the most challenging and rewarding aspects of starting a garden.
Choosing a Location for Your Garden
The next step is choosing a location for your garden. The best spot depends on a number of factors:
The plants you’d like to grow. Some plants need a lot of shade, others sun.
The number of plants you’d like and how much space they need
Access to water
The available areas around your home
Aesthetics
You should research your plants and weigh the other factors when coming to a decision on where to place your garden.
J.D. and Kris dug up their yard to expand their garden in 2005.
Preparing the Soil
Once you have a space picked out for your garden, the next step is preparing the soil. This can be a laborious and time consuming process, depending on the quality of your soil and the amount of rocks and weeds in your yard. You’ll need to test the soil pH, dig up any grass and weeds that might be present, add manure or other organic material, use a tiller to mix the soil, and remove rocks and roots that could grow into weeds. You may also need to add chemicals such as sulfur or lime to adjust the soil pH. This article provides a more detailed guide to the process of digging a garden.
If you’d rather avoid this, or your soil simply isn’t suitable, you can plant your garden in containers or a raised bed. This can be a great option because the containers keep out weeds and your plants will be growing in high quality soil.
Planting
Once your garden is ready for planting, you’ll want to draw up a garden plan that specifies which plants will grow where. To do this, you’ll need to research how much space your plants will need and how they like to be planted. Some plants do better in wide rows, while others excel in thin single-file rows. Some plants should be planted in raised beds because the extra soil depth is important, others need to be planted in troughs so that they can be covered with soil as they sprout.
Raised beds (photo by johnyaya)
After you’ve made your plan, divide your rows, either by drawing in the soil or using stakes and string to make the rows. Don’t forget to rope off a walk way through your garden so you can access your plants without trampling them. Your garden should now be ready for planting.
Ongoing Maintenance
After you’ve finished planting, congratulate yourself! You’ve just completed the most strenuous part of gardening. Now that the plants are in the ground, you’ll need to conduct ongoing maintenance, which shouldn’t take more than an hour a week if you have a reasonably sized garden.
Important maintenance tasks include:
Watering. Forget this and your plants won’t stand much of a chance. When you bought your seeds they should have come with instructions for how much and how frequently the plants should be watered. It’s also a good idea to monitor the garden daily for signs of poor health.
Weeding. This won’t be an issue if you have a container garden, but if not, you’ll need to check regularly and uproot any invasive weeds that infiltrate your garden.
Side Dressing. This means spreading additional fertilizer around the base of your growing plants. Do some research to determine if and how often each of your crops should be side dressed.
Hilling. This means piling up additional soil around the stem of your plants into a “hill”. This is often done in conjunction with side dressing where the fertilizer is spread around the stem and soil is piled on top of it. Certain plants, especially root vegetables, benefit from hilling because they grow better with extra soil above the root.
As your garden grows, it’s important that you check it daily to watch for any problems. This doesn’t take a lot of time and you will catch any issues before they become bigger problems. Things to watch out for include:
Rotting or disease plants
Insects and other pests
Animals eating plants
Withering or otherwise unhealthy plants
An actual weekend harvest from J.D.’s garden in August 2006.
Harvesting
As the season progresses you’ll see your plants grow and eventually produce the fruits, vegetables, and herbs that you envisioned when you ordered your seed packets months earlier. It’s extremely rewarding to see your hard work pay off in the form of food that you grew from the earth.
When you feel that your produce is at the peak of its desirability, it’s time to harvest. Gently pick ripe produce as it matures and store it in a cool dry place in your home. If you have more than you can eat, giving some away to friends and neighbors is a great idea.
This is when you recoup your initial investment by eating fresh delicious produce for free. A decent-sized garden can easily produce hundreds of dollars worth of food each year. If you make it this far, you should give yourself a pat on the back because you’ve developed an enjoyable hobby, done good for the environment, and saved yourself money on food.
J.D.’s note: In theory, next weekend is the big garden weekend here at Rosings Park. Kris and I will attend the local garden show, and then we’ll plant most of our crops for the year. (This morning we’re at our friend’s plant swap!) In reality, the weather sucks. It’s been rotten for two months. We’re way behind. I’m not sure when the garden will get started. But I have hopes that next week we’ll be back on schedule.

Superbowl Prediction

San Diego has always been the neglected stepsister to Los Angeles and San Francisco, but this is the year that she will finally wear the glass slipper. You see this is the city that couldn't even hold on to the Clippers who bolted to Los Angeles.. For their last superbowl experience, they were humiliated by the 49ers by the score of 49-26.

Why is this year different? One word -- Obama. He is the man that has brought world peace upon us and has single-handedly protected us against Al Qaeda. Yet, he did have one flaw .... Here is the excerpt from

http://clarkjudge.blogs.cbssports.com/mcc/blogs/entry/6384866/10564997

Blame it on Obama, Chargers' fans

I was talking to Mike Pereira, the league's vice president of officiating, when the conversation turned to the San Diego-Denver game. I told Pereira that as bad as Ed Hochuli's call was, it was the failure of the replay system in thye first half that bothered me more. I mean, a ref can blow a call. It happens. But replay systems are not supposed to malfunction. It was then that Pereira told me the replay in Denver had worked flawlessly in two preseason games but had to be removed, taken apart, reassembled and returned before the season. The reason? The Democratic National Convention. "So if you're going to blame anyone," said Pereira, tongue in cheek, "blame the Democrats."

To make it up to the Chargers, he has rigged the entire NFL postseason to enable the Chargers to win it all. He will let nature take its course on the NFC side where the Minnesota Vikings will also make it to the Super Bowl.

So Vikings fans, if they lose the Super Bowl you know who to blame.

Hi Dave!

As I promised, here is a synopsis of my trip to Washington (11/27 -
11/30/1999). Sorry this is so long, but I had too much fun!

I went on American Airlines on Friday night, because I would like to
reserve the entire Saturday for sight seeing. Since my friend, Mono,
didn't have a car, one of his friends drove him to the airport. I am very
grateful for his friend, Ken, because I didn't know him at all.
Furthermore, he had to wake up very early on a Saturday morning to pick
me up. He also insisted on buying me breakfast, because it was my
birthday :)

Ken knew the area fairly well, because he has lived in Washington D.C.
for over 10 years. He suggested that we visit the monuments, because it
would be easier to travel with a car. The first monument that we visited
was the Lincoln Memorial. It was a very imposing sight to see Abraham
Lincoln. Reading his speech moved me greatly, and I was impressed by his
foresight to abolish slavery.

We then moved to the Vietnam Memorial. In the book, I tried to find
someone my age (23 years old) on the roster which contained all the men
and women killed in the war. In the book, I found a person called John
Morris from Long Beach, CA. It is frightening to think that an entire
generation my age was lost in the Vietnam War. At that wall, I said a
small prayer for his family.

The next memorial that we went to was Roosevelt's Memorial. Roosevelt is
the newest memorial in Washington D.C. They are currently planning a
World War II memorial, but they havn't finished designing it. Basically,
the memorial was divided into 4 parts based on FDR's 4 freedom speech and
his 4 terms in office. Because I took a picture next to FDR, I decided to
take a picture next to Eleanor (that should make him jealous ;).

Lastly, I went to the Jefferson Memorial. Supposedly the memorial was
closed for renovations, but I decided to sneak in instead. There were a
few others there, but nowhere near as many as the Lincoln Memorial. Ken
was a great tour guide, because he knew a lot of factoids and trivia
about Washington D.C.

He dropped us off at the George Washington/Georgetown area of Washington
D.C. I wanted to go there to get a glimpse of George Washington
University School of Medicine. I have an interview there, but the
director of admissions is flying all the way to California to interview
me. One of my good friends from Mudd, Kimmie Bui, is also going to the
medical school there. I didn't get to see her that day, because she is
still in So. Cal. For lunch, Mono and I went to a French restaurant. The
food was pretty good, but food prices in D.C. are generally a lit bit
more pricier than L.A. We walked around the George Washington area for
quite some time, and then we took a break at Mono's friend's apartment.
There I listened to some Jazz music and sorta unwound. We then went back
to Mono's apartment on a Metro. I simply love the metro. The metro has
gotta be one of the best public transportation systems in the country.

In the night time, I went to Bethesda, Maryland. Within a day, I have
traveled all acrross the country and ate in Virginia, D.C., and Maryland.
Since it was a weekend, all the restaurants were packed in the area. We
decided to go to a Thai restaurant, but the wait seemed to be too long.
After some discussion, we went to another Thai restaurant. I chose Thai
food, because I havn't eaten Thai in quite some time. The other Thai
restaurant also had a long waiting time. We decided to go to a bookstore
and browse some books. Afterwards, we went back to the Thai place. The
food there was absolutely superb. I had some of the spicy chicken and a
seafood combo platter. If you ever go to Bethesda and are craving for
some Thai food, make sure that you go to Bangkok Garden.

On Sunday morning, we decided to go to President Clinton's church. Since
there was no security detail, I knew that the President was skipping
church that Sunday :) After church, I heard about some of the history of
the church. They have a stained glass window of Abraham Lincoln (in the
fellowship hall, not the church), because he occasionally visited the
church. But more unusual was that they had a stained glass window of
Madamme Chiang Kai Shek. The wife of the former president of Taiwan.
Apparently she was part of an organization called China Aid which was the
largest aid organization at the time. At that time, she seemed like a
logical choice, but now it seems very strange.

After church, I went back home and went to a Greek restaurant. The food
there was very good as well. I've only tried lamb stew, but I don't think
that I have eaten lamb in any other fashion before. After watching the
football game, I immediately went to Union Station to catch a train to
Richmond. The train was delayed, so I had to wait for a long time.

The train ride was pretty uneventful. One reason was that it was pretty
dark, so I didn't see the countryside. I called my host immediately after
I arrived, and he only gave his address. This was one of my mistakes. I
should have asked him very detailed instructions on how to get to his
house. When I called the cab, the guy got lost, so I had to pay quite a
bit. I figured out that he had a cell phone, so I called my host and got
there safely.

I had a very gracious host that talked a lot about medical school in
general. He told me very good tips about surviving my first year in
medical school. But apparently he was very low on groceries, so instead
of dinner I had 2 nutrigrain bars instead. On the other hand, very few
medical students would be willing to talk for 3 hours about stuff.

The next morning, I went to VCU. One of the unique things about VCU is
that it has class at 8 in the morning. As a result, I had to wake up at
6:15 in the morning to get ready for school. On the other hand, this is
the only school that serves complimentary breakfast and all-you-can-eat
lunch :) Before the interview I had a good 2 hour long discussion with
the Dean of Admissions. It seemed that I was far more talkative of the
other candidates. When I went in for the interview, I felt very ready.
This was the best interview I have had. The interviewer, Dr. Clifton
(dean of students), said that he wanted me to come to Richmond. He told
me that he will try to persuade the other 28 people on the admissions
committee. It is a pretty good sign, but in no way does this mean that I
will get accepted at VCU. I've already had 2 acceptances so far, so I'm
taking it easy. On the other hand, I left with a very good impression of
VCU.

I went back to the train station by a cab. The cabbie was very nice and
talkative. I talked to him about his impressions of VCU. He told me that
VCU literally saved his and his wife's life. He told me that he would
always be grateful to the doctors at VCU. When I was at the train
station, I talked to an older African American lady about VCU. She told
me that it had an excellent reputation, and started to try to persuade me
to come to Richmond. She has been in Richmond since World War II and she
absolutely loves it.
I was kinda tired when I went back to Washington D.C.

The next morning, I made an appointment to meet my friend Kimmie. At
first, we were planning on meeting at Ross Hall. But instead we met each
other in the metro station. It was an amazing coincidence, because there
are thousands of people in the station. She told me a little bit more
about George Washington University. I liked the GW campus, but I liked
VCU better.

Please bear with me, I am almost done ... I'll be extremely brief.

I went to the Smithsonian National Gallery of Art. I decided to focus on
the traveling exhibitions instead of the permanent ones. I saw a bunch of
Vermeers, Rembrandts, Holbeins, and Durer's, on loan from another museum.
That was pretty cool. After I toured the Congress, I took a picture in
front of the Whitehouse. I left Washington D.C. with a lot of good
memories.

Have a good weekend,


John

Old email about the Tori Amos/Alanis Morisette concert

As I promised, here is my short review of the concert. It is so much
harder to write about the concert itself rather than the experience of
going to the concert.

After listening to Little Earthquakes and Under the Pink countless times,
I was expecting a more sedate version of Tori Amos. Instead, I was caught
in a whirlwind of drumbeats, basses, and guitar solos. Yet, above it all
I could viscerally feel the intense percussive quality of her piano. Tori
started with the song, God. In the past, I probably would have said that
I knew the song well. But tonight, she morphed the song into a brand new
experience for me. Yes! This is what a concert should be -- transforming
the songs in the CD anew. The highlight for me was her encore, Precious
Things. As usual, I had no idea from the intros which songs would come up
next. But if there were any of her old songs that would fit her new
style, Precious Things would be it. My lone criticism of the concert is
that she didn't play many of her old songs. But this is understandable,
because she has to promote her new CD.

I'm not that big of an Alanis fan, but surprisingly I knew more of her
songs than Tori's. Since she was not captive to the piano, Alanis was
able to prance around on stage. Ah, I am at a loss for words to describe
the concert. But if there was one song that was worth the price of
admission that would be the song from the City of Angels soundtrack. From
the haunting piano intro to the end, it was an awesome experience.

I will come to Claremont soon. If you aren't busy, I hope to see you and
some other friends. Meanwhile best of luck in everything!


John


______________________________________________
I believe that man will not merely endure; he will prevail ...
he has a soul, a spirit capable of compassion
and sacrifice and endurance ---William Faulkner

My very first concert - Tori Amos/Alanis Morisette

Thanks for the forward about the circle of friends, I totally appreciated
it. It is always really nice to hear from you.

I was partly kidding when I said that I would write for the Collage about
the Tori/Alanis concert. I've always wanted to write for a newspaper, but
I realize that I probably can't meet the high standards of your newspaper
:) I've also attached a copy to Dave, so he can vouch for my accuracy ;)
However, I do have some really good tips about Irvine Meadows (see John's
rules), so you could share my report to your friends who might be going
there for concerts.

Anyway, here is my report of my very first rock concert!

Sunday 3:00 p.m.

(Secretly humming Tori Amos tunes, while the sopranos in the choir were
struggling with Handel's Messiah in the background)

Normally I love choir practice, but today I couldn't wait for the
practice to end. First of all Handel is way too difficult for the youth
choir. But the main reason I can't wait to leave is because I will be
going to my very first rock concert -- Tori Amos and Alanis Morissette at
Irvine Meadows.

Sunday 4:40 p.m.

Dave Beydler finally arrives at my church. He is one of my best friends
in college. For the most part we have similar music tastes, but he
prefers Alanis and I prefer Tori. At this point, we knew that we were
going to be 2 hours early so we microwaved some leftover church food.

Sunday 5:30 p.m.

Stopped by Arby's for food. He ordered a roast beef sandwich, while I
ordered a large cup of water. I know we have food, but leftover church
food isn't exactly the best food in the world. To my amazement, the
cashier gave me a little cup of water. Note to myself: Next time when I
go to Arby's I should order the extra extra large cup of water :)

Sunday 5:40 p.m.

Dave told me that he wasn't sure how to get to Irvine Meadows. I told him
that we're guys, so we should be experts in finding our way. Hmmm ... not
exactly, I actually told him a joke about Moses taking 40 years to go to
Israel, because he didn't know the directions. Dave was totally awesome
though, and we arrived in Irvine meadows without the need to ask people
for help.

Sunday 5:42 p.m.

Finally arrived in Irvine Meadows. I told Dave that I would talk to at
least one stranger in the concert. Lo and behold, immediately after I
came out of the car a woman came up to me and said that she liked my
smile. Then, I was completely flabbergasted we she said that she was
ticketing me for looking happy. (I do joke and laugh a lot, and maybe I
do have a nice smile, but she was completely outrageous!) She then gave a
sticker about smiling in public. I thought I could keep it, but then she
requested a donation.
John's rule #1: Never accept tickets for strangers, unless it says KROQ.

Sunday 5:45 p.m.
We didn't have tickets, because Dave ordered online. We were supposed to
pick up the tickets at the will-call window, but we made a mistake of
waiting in the tickets-only line.
John's rule #2: Ask someone before you wait in line.
We ate our really delicious church food and drank water from our little
Arby's cup. I was actually really envious of the family ahead of us,
because they had cookies, drinks, and a tomato and tuna salad. Behind us
were 2 women who were Tori fans. After my experience with that nut, I
decided not to talk to strangers anymore.

Sunday 6:00 p.m.
Dave spots a Mudder! I can't believe it another person from the 5
Colleges is actually going to the concert. I didn't know her, because she
was only a first or second-year student at Mudd. Dave barely knew her,
because he was about to graduate. To out surprise, she went out and
talked to the two women behind us. After she left, I talked to one of the
women. She told me that she was from Scripps (I think her name is
Lauren), and she also told me that she had terrace seats. Lucky her! I
can't believe she is actually waiting in line, since she had tickets.

Sunday 6:15 p.m.
After drinking all that Arby water, I felt that I had to go to the
bathroom. I asked the attendants if I could go inside to the concert
area, but they wouldn't let me cut the line. Since I couldn't spot a tree
in the parking lot, I decided to quickly run to the Burger King across
the street.
John's rule #3: Don't run on a full stomach.
John's rule #4: Don't leave the line, just before they open the gates.
I was afraid that I would get lost finding the Burger King, so I quickly
darted back to the line. When I arrived, I couldn't find Dave because the
line had moved. I frantically went to the front of the line, and asked if
the line had moved much. Fortunately the line didn't move much.

Sunday 6:35 p.m.
We finally get frisked in front of the gates. Dave then realizes that we
need tickets to get past the gate. He then asks the security guard for
permission to jump over the fence to go to the will-call window.
John's rule # 5: Immediately go to the will-call window to get tickets.
At first the guard said that we would be forced to go to the end of the
line. Meanie! The line was like 2 miles long. We begged him to let us
slide, and he finally relented.
John's rule #6: Be nice to security guards, even if they do make you feel
really uncomfortable when they frisk you.
John's rule #7: Don't bring cameras to concerts, unless you know for sure
you can take pictures.

Sunday 6:40 p.m.
Yessssssss! I can finally go to the bathroom. I noticed that the women's
line was 3 times as long as the guys line. It did seem to me that there
were 3 times as many women for the Tori/Alanis concerts. Hmmmm ...... I
wonder why that is the case.
John's rule #8: Use the bathroom near the lawn section. There is
absolutely no lines for the men and women bathrooms.

Sunday 7:15 p.m.
Some unknown band starts singing.

Sunday 8:00 p.m.
Tori sings.

Sunday 9:30 p.m.
Tori stops singing.

Sunday 9:50 p.m.
Alanis sings.

Sunday 11:05 p.m.
Alanis stops singing.

Sunday 11:10 p.m.
Dave and I get KROQ stickers. They're free!

As you see I'm getting sleepy. I'll write a review of the concert
tomorrow.


Yours truly,


John
______________________________________________
I believe that man will not merely endure; he will prevail ...
he has a soul, a spirit capable of compassion
and sacrifice and endurance ---William Faulkner

Quotes from my college signature.

I believe that man will not merely endure; he will prevail ...
he has a soul, a spirit capable of compassion
and sacrifice and endurance ---William Faulkner

"Good-bye', said the fox. 'And now here is
my secret, a very simple secret: It is only
with the heart that one can see rightly;
what is essential is invisible to the eye.'"
Saint-Exupery, The Little Prince, p. 70

> Dr. H,
>
> I am currently a freshman at Harvey Mudd. I'm considering a career in
> medicine because I'm very interested in the human body and in
> practical ways of fixing its problems. Professor Haushalter gave me
> your email address, saying you might be able to give important
> insight. At this point, I have not by any means decided that medicine
> is what I want to do with my life; it's just one of many options I'm
> mulling over. I don't have any specific questions yet, but if you
> would oblige me, I'd be very interested in hearing a little about what
> life is like for someone pursuing a career in medicine. If you have
> any tips as to how I might get a better idea whether this path would
> work for me, I would greatly appreciate those as well.
>
> Thanks,


There is so much diversity in medicine itself that you could probably find a niche that you are interested in. I'd like to know a little more about yourself regarding what your motivations are in coming to Mudd and medicine.

A little bit about myself and my journey and the pitfalls along the way.

When I first came to Mudd, I wanted to be a scientist but never really considered medicine as a career. I was torn between biology and chemistry, but what sold me was when I talked to Dr. Purves (former chair of dept) and had a long talk about the lac operon and molecular biology.

I was definitely not prepared for the rigorous curriculum at Mudd. I'm not sure what the curve now is at Mudd, but when I was there in the late 90s it was around a B-. My first year I did slightly above average, except for physics for which I got a C+ (had an awful physics class in high school). Partly due to pride, I decided to take a physics class over the summer to prepare me for E&M. This random act probably helped me get into medical school.

After doing research in plant biology, I felt that this was not what I wanted to do with the rest of my life. I enjoyed research immensely, but I wanted to make a difference in people's lives. At the end of my sophomore year, I decided to look into medicine.

One of the best things about Mudd is the intellectual firepower, strong honor code, camraderie, and lifelong friendships. I loved the place, and it was definitely the place for me. However, like I alluded to earlier grades was probably the reason why I didn't get in on my first try. I also lacked some of the volunteer work that most other premeds had done. It also didn't help that there wasn't anyone who knew the byzantine application system.

Once you get into medical school, you'll find it to be a piece of cake compared to Mudd. I found the first 2 years to be very easy. I did study hard, but all you need to do is to memorize everything in the lecture and do old exams.

After going through medicine and residency, I realized that what drives me is a combination of patient care and research. Looking back, Mudd is THE perfect place for someone who wants to be a physician-scientist. I'd like to understand how cells respond to injury (in particular the nephron) from the immune system's point of view. On the side, I'd like to be a transplant nephrologist. It has been a long road (graduated in 1998), but the light is at the end of the tunnel.

The hard part is finding the entrance of the tunnel.

J

92% John McCain
83% Mike Huckabee
82% Mitt Romney
75% Rudy Giuliani
71% Fred Thompson
58% Tom Tancredo
54% Ron Paul
49% Hillary Clinton
46% Chris Dodd
46% Barack Obama
45% Bill Richardson
42% John Edwards
41% Joe Biden
26% Dennis Kucinich
24% Mike Gravel

2008 Presidential Candidate Matching Quiz

I am 6% Geek.

I wanna be a geek. But I'm not. Why would I even want to be one. Do I think it's fun? I should try writting an online test application at 1 am in my underwear

Take the
Geek Test
@ FualiDotCom

Ok ...


Accountability time. I admit I have not blogged, but that is also because I have not been on the internet that much. As for my New Years resolution, I have slept in quite a bit. (Sleeping in means sleeping until 7:25 am to be at work by 8:15 :P

Today is a very special day, since it is the last day for me before R is born. Actually if it is a he then it'll be named after my dad and by best friend.

The big news this past week was that my friend Rob visited me from California. We actually had a jam packed schedule for the week. He is a big train buff since he is working with California's department of transportation. We decided to first go on an authentic trolley ride down McKinney Avenue. It was free, but the main gripe I have with the trolley was that it was incredibly loud. Still you can't beat free :) Next we decided to walk to the place where JFK was shot. I know it's morbid, but still you can't visit Dallas without seeing this cultural landmark. Next we went to American Airlines arena. For a bit of trivia, that area (Victory plaza) has the largest collection of big screen TVs in the country. Last I check there was 10. We went back to my car with the DART train. Next we visited the train museum. It is a quirky littly museum located in FAIR Park. Unlike the other museums in FAIR Park, it does not get along with the commission so it exists as an entity within an entity. Inside the park is the largest locomotive (BIG BOY) that was owned by UP. It also appears that their relationship with Union Pacific has also soured because their dispatchers have been giving them a hard time. Anyway .... the coolest part of the museum was that they were able to fire away some of the trains and I got to see the trains move. Way cool ....

Tomorrow.

Baby time,

J

I've been ok about not using the internet as much.

My talk on rejection went very well this week. I had some really funny slides like the holy grail and the main villain on the show heroes. It was a rather basic talk, but I'm glad I didn't go into too much detail because it would have been a much longer talk.

The big news is waiting for the baby to come. My wife hasn't felt any contractions lately, but she has noticed that the baby has been positioning herself. We pretty much have everything we need, but you never know with your firstborn.

Happy Chinese New Year!

J

Ok, for an update. I was on the computer for 1.5 hours today. Not what I wanted. The actual reason was to procrastinate from writing this blog. Hmmm .... not good.

In the meantime, I need to finish my presentation on transplant rejection.

Church today was good. I love pastor Ed, he comes up with the most hilarious illustrations. Today's sermon was on joy, and on the habits and things we do that sap it. For his illustration today, he brought a digital camera to church and took random pictures of people sitting in the front row. He then asked the folks to evaluate his picture taking skills. Then he asked them, who was the first person they looked at. Invariably, everyone looked at their own picture first. One of the things that are second nature to all of us is selfishness.

Which brings me back to the topic of rejection. One of the main theories regarding rejection is that self/nonself hypothesis. The reason why we reject transplanted organs is because it is foreign. Our bodies do not recognize the transplanted organ as "self." You see, if I can prevent "selfishness", I can prevent rejection.

Pretty cool stuff,

J

Ok, looking back I've accomplished one goal last year and stopped another. The good news is that I have finished reading the bible last year. The bad news is that I have stopped reading my kidney book.

One of the most frustating things in this past year has been my internet addiction. Good I've got it out my chest. Hmmm .... isn't it weird that I'm typing away on my blog ON THE INTERNET.

As a doctor, it has always been frustating for me to hear my patients who are smokers tell me that they are going to quit. I've had a few successes, but they are far and few in between. To all the readers on this blog, I implore you that I will probably let you down but I am doing my best.

Yes .... but I've finally concluded that I need to be kept accountable in all of this. I've also decided that this would be a way for me to document that I have finally kicked this habit.

By the way, I'm going to start by limitting my home internet use to 1 hour a day. 15 minutes of which would be used in blogging (12:00 minutes left on the clock).

My internet use is a way for me to procrastinate from the more urgent needs in life. I need to reconnect with goals regarding my health and spirituality.

At church this week, my pastor is going through this series called Larger than Life. In fact to be a Christ follower means that I should hold on to the promises that HE will enable us to live life to the fullest. Need to have big dreams, but give all glory back to HIM.

Goal: To be the best husband and father I could be and to be the world's foremost expert in Transplantation.

The sad state is that I have been wasting my life on the internet and have been neglecting my wife and home.

In the next edition of my blog, I will update my progress.

Godspeed.

May February 10th, 2007 be the day that I finally conquer this addiction.

My newest find is called del.icio.us. Basically it is a social bookmarking website. Since I don't publicize my name on this blog, my website is del.icio.us/"my juno login (Noncomputer bots should delete the parentheses)".