San Diego Yale Alum Mixer

Today, Neill, Dave, and I decided to go to the Yale Club of San Diego Annual Mixer. As Dave and I have never gone to any Yale Club events anywhere, we figured we might as well go to something where we plan on settling. It also helped that Neill wanted to go, because at the very least, we'll have somewhere else to talk to. In case you didn't know, Dave and I are big introverts at heart...

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So the event was at an alum's house out in Point Loma. What a beautiful location! It was on top of a hill with gorgeous views of San Diego harbor. I took a picture from the street, but the views from the house were even more amazing (I was too uncomfortable to whip out the camera and snap away in the house).

It was an interesting event. The house we were at belonged to an alum that graduated in '47. Ha ha... I'm guessing half of the people there were from the 40s. One guy told us a bit about fighting in Italy during WWII. Wow. I briefly met one guy who graduated in the 50s, a Yale Law alum from the 70s, and then there was a small contingent of more recent grads: one '87, Neill and Dave '96, me '98, two kids '03, and one '04.... We also met a couple with a great story: The husband was a Yale Med professor during the '50s-'70s. He came to Yale Med for a fellowship in the 40s. First of all, the wife was born and raised in New Haven. Her father was an administrator at Yale. Apparently, they were super chummy with the higher-ups at Yale, that when the couple got married, they were gifted a huge plot of land in New Haven from the President of Yale (or someone big like that, I can't remember). Cool, huh? When we got home, I googled them and found a Scientific American article on the husband! Wow, I'm totally impressed.... I didn't really get a chance to ask what the other alums did with their lives, but it wouldn't surprise me if a bunch of them did amazing things.... Oh, and one of the kids that graduated '03? Well, his great great grandfather graduated '03, too. 1903 that is. Wow, talk about Super Legacy.... Anyways, I do have to say that I dreaded going to the Mixer thinking that it was going to be full of stuffy old geezers (it didn't help that Neill just went to a Harvard Alum Dinner event in San Diego which WAS full of stuffy old geezers, and was no fun), but I was pleasantly surprised. The people were SOOOOO nice and genuinely friendly. The older ladies were so vivacious and fun. I gotta schmooze some more and see if there are any Yalies in the biotech industry. ;)

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A picture of the house with the MASSIVE Yale banner in front (as we were leaving)

Afterwards, we decided to stop at Neill's workplace for him to pick up some stuff. Of course, I had to take some shots of PROFRESSOR Neill's office.

Neill in his office

Neill's walls are super boring since he doesn't have anything up, but at least he has some cool pictures of him surfing in Hawaii.

We get such a kick out of this since it's hard to imagine a peer being a Professor. Ha ha ha....

Brrrrrr.....

Check out the weather right now! So cold!!!!

And look at the temperature in San Diego. A bit chilly but keep in mind it's 7:30am....
But later in the day, this is what you can look forward to.... Note: "plenty of sunshine"... Yeah baby, that's what winter should be like.

And you wonder why I want to leave???

Sinai Represent!

Just got this picture from Paul who took it sometime during last summer after a game on Roosevelt Island. We're waiting for the F train. This must have been during the time when the Tram went down (April-September), because I would rather take the Tram with it's beautiful views of Queens/RI/Manhattan/East River than the subway. (Oooh, note to self: take some pictures the next time I ride that thing!)

Lucas & Eric + Sinai Kids

L to R: Lucas, Joe, mini Eric on the other platform, Eli, Me

Old Ulti pics

So I realized that I dont have that many ultimate pictures from pick-up games and whatnot posted here.... Here are some old ones that I've collected over the past couple years. There aren't many since people don't generally carry their cameras around with the risk of them getting stolen.

Williamsburg, Nov 2006

Aru, Ben, Dai, Joe, and Me
I love this shot of Garland catching that disc (and with bright green Dai ready to help out...somehow)


Roosevelt Island, August 2006
my big butt, Marieke (no idea who's she blocking), Shah

Roosevelt Island, November 2005Bunch of people milling around (Joe, Lucas, Me, Kil, Parker, Matt, Gabor, Sandy, Shah)

Mud Ultimate in Central Park!
February 2005that's me in the black shirt and blue shorts (man, my butt is dirty!)
below: Anne and I are fighting for the disc.

Good times.

My Favorite Lady Geneticists....

Here's a picture of the lady grad students of the 14th floor... a great group to have spent my grad school years with (especially during those GGS journal clubs... ha ha):

top (l to r): Cheryl, Analisa, Becky, Maria

bottom (l to r): Christine, Heather, Me

Another favorite scientist-to-be friend of mine, Melanie!

A good Mel and Mel picture for once!

Views from Dave's commute

Dave has the BEST commute in the world. He drives past Torrey Pines and Del Mar everyday which has the most beautiful view you can imagine....

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Ha ha, typical.

Trucks with surfboards

Dave heading up Carmel Valley Road which takes you up to N. Torrey Pines Road, which follows the coast along northern La Jolla.

Okay, we're near the turn to Torrey Pines Road/Camino Del Mar. My camera sucks, so the effect isn't quite as dramatic as it really is.

Turning

Facing the ocean, and turning left.... (Turn right if you want to go to Del Mar)
BOOM!

Check out this view!

After passing the ocean, you drive through some cliffs.

This is Torrey Pines Road, where the famous golf course is at (to your right), a bunch of famous research institutions, and biotech companies.

Dave's hospital is further down the street, but I don't have a picture of it yet.

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Another morning (around 7am), I picked Dave up post-call and we decided to stop by Del Mar to take some more pictures of that beautiful coastline.

On the way, we decided to stop and take a nicer picture of the cliffs (with the moon!).

Looking down at the marshes (2 weeks ago, they were completely flooded!)


We drove past the ocean and parked on Camino Del Mar (the other side) and took some shots.
Dave and the road he drives down every day....

If you can zoom in, you can see Carlsbad in the distance.
I love this shot.

Only in San Diego....

Okay, I'm sure you can see these things in other places.... but I thought they were cool.

Funky cacti

Torrey Pine Trees (sorry if you're getting sick of these, I think they're very pretty)

Pretty purple desert flowers

While driving on the highway, you can see these:

or these...

I love San Diego!

Kitty's favorite perch

The kitty cat found a perch in our bedroom to look out at all the going-ons on the street... He's pretty afraid of all the noises from outside (like 4 year old boys--we have 4 of them as neighbors-- riding their bikes screaming in the street), but hopefully, he'll get used to it soon. We have a little balcony off the master bedroom that we encourage him to explore, but he's pretty skittish of it. Hopefully, he'll get over that soon.... (We want to move his litter box outside!)

Lake Poway

We discovered today that we have a lake 3.5 miles away! Lake Poway is this monstrous lake with a bunch of hiking and mountain-biking trails ranging from easy to strenuous. The other cool thing is that it's trout season! They stock it with 1200 pounds of trout a week! Good fishing to be had.... If you look closely in the pictures, you can see some people standing around fishing. It was super windy and not a very good day for it...

Can't wait to check it out!

Ramen = a wonderful invention

Did you know who the inventor of ramen was?

Momofuku Ando (who passed away yesterday)

Mmmmm. Ramen. Not healthy, but certainly a staple of our lives.