Halloween cupcakes for Lab!

All Halloween cupcakes


Most ineptly decorated Halloween cupcakes


Most successfully decorated Halloween cupcakes


One Halloween face cupcake

Isla Vista gears up for Halloween

Well, it's that time of the year again, when I.V. goes crazy as it receives an influx of non-residents. Even though Halloween falls on a Monday this year, that doesn't seem to have stopped a bunch of people from coming into the area. I was walking to the ATM in I.V. around 11:00 am and noticed lines out the front door for all the "restaurants," such as the 24-hour burrito place, and the ice cream parlor that happens to serve bagels. Now 11:00 am may not seem very early to you -- it certainly isn't to me -- but for a college town like I.V. it's pretty darn early on a weekend.

As much as I.V. storeowners bemoan the chaos and potential damage that Halloween carousers may cause, the clever ones seem to be raking in a windfall. I mean, out-of-towners still need to eat and buy alcohol, right?

Saw "Serenity" with L @ 7:40 pm

L and I went out this evening to see "Serenity." It was pretty good, but what stayed in my mind was the fact that tickets were $10.00, and so when L handed $20.00 to the cashier, I didn't expect him to hand her back change. I wondered if I had read the prices wrong, until I took a closer look at the tickets we were issued. Apparently the cashier mistook me for "12 and under," and so my ticket only cost $6.50, whereas L's was the full $10. I'm not certain whether to be flattered or horrified.


Picture of Serenity tickets for me and L

Ah well, it's a good thing I had forgotten to bring my grad student id, or my ticket would've cost $8.75.

Belated birthday celebrations!

To belatedly celebrate the birthdays of our Captain (Ph.D. Advisor) and Quartermaster (senior labmate), we had an informal party today.

Quartermaster Utley picked up a chocolate cake with strawberry mousse filling and chocolate icing, courtesy of the local Costco.


Oct 3, cake in shrinkwrap

He also brought in a large platter of fresh veggies with dip.


veggie platter

M and I went to pick up sandwich platters from the Subway in Isla Vista. We had asked for the sandwiches to be ready by 12:30 pm, but when I got there around 12:30 pm, the manager said they hadn't started them yet.


party food

He said, give me five minutes. I was annoyed, but what other choice did I have? So I waited about ten minutes and then rushed back to lab with the sandwiches.


party pic

R bought some white cake gel to scribble in Quartermaster Utley's name on the cake, as well as a token "Yar"


R decorating cake

Dread Captain Lee showed up a little later than we had expected to do a meeting off campus, but eventually we were able to partake of cake before the day got too late.


Fully decorated cake

The funny story about this cake is that, when our Quartermaster brought in the cake order form, there was a set list of icing themes/decorations to choose from.


side view of cake, lit candle

Not seeing the word "pirate" among them, I added " __ Pirate Flag (Skull and Crossbones)", checked the new option, then added that pastel flowers were an acceptable substitute.


Lit candles

I was going to write "Hoist the Jolly Roger" on the cake decoration form, but these days pirates are few and the message may have been misunderstood. We didn't actually think our silly request would be honored. But to our surprise, when Quartermaster Utley brought in the cake, what could there be but a darker chocolate pirate flag, in all its brazen glory.


cake carnage

Cal beat Arizona Wildcats...

Yay, chalk up another win for UC Berkeley's football team. They beat the Arizona Wildcats at Memorial Stadium 28 - 0. I hope Cal teaches those down south wannabe golden bears a lesson.