My First Paper

It has began. I submitted my first paper. It is being reviewed now, but a prepublication version is posted here. The topic of the paper is population genetics and it is kind of dense, but I welcome everyone to take a look. I am hoping to get one more out before I head off to grad school. I guess we'll see...

I Love the Avs

Most of you that know me are aware they hockey is my favorite sport, and at the Avs are my favorite team. The Avs made it to the second round with a 4-2 series win over the Minnesota Wild in the first round, ending in three straight wins. With all of the talk about how the Wild's defense was too much for Colorado, they only lead for 4 minutes, 31 seconds out of a possible 384:23. The Avs did much more then just hold their own.

Sweet! Now the Avs face the Red Wings in a series which contains a lot of history. Despite what some may think, I'm happy we get to play Detroit. I don't feel that the Avs should shy away from a challenge that is the Red Wings nor do they need to. The Avs are at the top of their game and their goalie, Jose Theodore, is playing out of his mind. Theodore is easily the best goalie in the playoff and a large reason the Avs made it to the second round. I also feel that a Avs-Red Wings series would get better TV rating (which we all know hockey needs).

Either way, it has been decided. Go Avs!!

Heading to UCLA

After fighting with this choice, I finally decided to attend UCLA for graduate school. I really did enjoy my visits to the other schools I (UCSD and UT Austin), but I am happy with my choice. At first, I has my doubts about living in either L.A. or Austin and finding research that I am interested in anywhere, so I am really glad that I decided to visit these schools. However, when it cames down to it, UCLA was a better fit for me.

It surprises me to say it, but I really like L.A. (aside from the traffic) and the UCLA is beautiful. Westwood is a really nice city and far different then what I expected for L.A. The downside to being really nice is that it is also really expensive. OK... it is ridiculously expensive. Luckily for me, I received a couple of fellowships and I'm not a big spender. I even believe that I can save money throughout grad school.

Being in L.A., I thought that UCLA would be all concrete and asphalt, but it was really green. There are a lot of different types of trees on campus. I kind of think that a couple of landscaper decided to have a contest to see who could plant the larger variety of tree. Oh yeah, they also added the rule that there couldn't be any logical pattern in the placement of different types of trees. It's kind of funny, but there really isn't any discernible pattern in the trees' placement. Nevertheless, it still looks nice.

Another thing that is nice about UCLA is that my family is close by. I spent a day down in Long Beach with my cousin Ray. It had been about eight years since I last saw him, which is too long. My aunt had a barbecue and I was able to see a lot of family member I hadn't seen in many years. I love my family, but to be honest I was unsure how I would be received. I thought that I might be treated as and outsider, but I don't things could have been better or more fun. I am looking forward to hanging out with Ray and my other cousin more often.

I know that I'll hate the moving process and I don't want to leaving all of my friends behind, but I am excited about starting grad school at UCLA.