A LetterDear Friends,

2010 has been a very busy year. So busy, in fact, that this report almost never got off the ground, save for the fact that I had already carefully jotted down as much of my year as I could into my planner throughout the entire year, and it would seem a waste not to tally it all up. In addition, I discovered a number of new data mining programs that I was eager to try out. So why not, here’s the 2010 year in review.

This year has been spent focusing on applying to graduate school, where I hope to earn a Ph.D. in Biology or Biomedical Sciences. After an exhausting year of relearning high school mathematics and college biology for exams, then subsequently having to fill out eleven different applications, I can happily say that my applications have all been submitted as of this writing, though my wallet is a little worse for wear. Hopefully by this time next year, I will have started my graduate program at some school of high academic distinction.

All work aside, I hope that this letter finds you and your family in good health, and I wish you all well this coming year.

Sincerely,

George Chen

THE YEAR IN

Graduate School Applications# of programs applied

11Total cost of applications

$1081.00Most tedious application

EMORYUCSFSimplest application

SCRIPPS# of free applications

3

THE YEAR IN

TechnologyRobotics Events Attended

18Social Media Used

Best Webcomic

SURVIVING THE WORLDBest Blog

BOING BOINGOnline Communities

4# webcomics followed

11

THE YEAR IN

InternetA Amazon.com

B Boingboing.net

C Cakewrecks.com

D Dearblankpleaseblank.com

E

F Facebook.com

G Gizmodo.com

H Howtogetagrip.com

I INGDirect.com

J

K Kuler.adobe.com

L Lifehacker.com

M Mousebits.com

N NYTimes.com

O

P Postsecret.com

Q Questionablecontent.net

R Rallytorestoresanity.com

S SDAFF.org

T Twitter.com

U

V Visionsfantastic.com

W Woot.com

X XKCD.net

Y Youtube.com

Z Zeitgeist.google.com

THE YEAR IN

BooksBest Artbook

PRINCESS AND THE FROGJeff Kurtti

Best Fiction

SURVIVING YOUR STUPID, STUPID DECISION TO GO TO GRAD SCHOOLAdam Ruben

Best NonFiction

STIFF & BONKMary Roach

$ Spent on Books

$87.00% of Nonfiction vs Fiction books read

Map of programs applied

Breakdown of expenses

APPLICATIONSGRE EXAMSGRE REPORTS TRANSCRIPTS

Size of Itunes Library

89.7GBSpanning 47.7 days

Growth of library (2007-2010)

Most Played Song

JUST LIKE WE DREAMED IT (SHOW STOP)Disneyland Paris

Best Podcast

FROM OUR OWN COR-RESPONDANTSBBC Radio 4

Best Album

LION KING (SOUTH AFRICAN CAST)Disney

# of songs added

2012

THE YEAR IN

MusicListening times, Midnight to 11pm

Worst/Best Lyric

“I USED TO BE COM-MANDER AND CHIEF OF MY PIMPSHIP FLYING HIGH...”Knock You Down

Keri Hilson ft. Kanye West

Longest track

1:09:17Expedition Everest BGM

Disney’s Animal Kingdom

THE YEAR IN

P hotography# of events photographed

61# of photos taken

3666Favorite Subject

WORLD OF COLORDisney’s California Adventure

Pictures for experiments

61% of pictures shared online

3%Most photographed location

DISNEYLAND

NONFICTION

FICTION

Favorite Animal Photo

A peacock challenging his reflection in the bumper of a tour bus at the

San Diego Zoo

Photography by month and time of day

Notable Professions

BUSINESS MANAGE-MENT DIRECTORWalt Disney Company

JOURNALIST, HONG KONGReuters

DIRECTOR, RADIATION PHYSICS DEPARTMENTMassachusetts General Hospital

“THE INTERNET GUY”Photodisc

Number of Google Results

APPROXIMATELY

0

5

10

15

20

Research

Med

ical

Entertain

men

t

Intern

et

Pharm

a

Electrical

Finan

ce

Telecom

CS

IT

CHENOrigin: Chinese

From name of the region of Chen

in present-day Henan province.

Gui Man, a descendant of the

emperor Shun (2257?2205 B.C.),

was selected by Wu Wang, the

first king of the Zhou dynasty in

1122 B.C., to guard the memory

of the ancient emperors to help

Wu Wang remain in power. Gui

Man was granted the region of

Chen and was posthumously

named Chen Hugong, and his

descendants came to adopt the

surname Chen.

Online Characterization(MIT Media Lab) Personas col-

lects online data about a person

and attempts to characterize

them based upon a predeter-

mined set of categories. For this

characterization, 30 profiles were

analyzed.

http://personas.media.mit.edu/

OTHER

George Chens

894500

10230 74

3,250,000As of December 2010

Online Presence

Industry (via LinkedIn)

Name Origins

GEORGEOrigin: Greek

Meaning: Tiller of the soil

THE YEAR IN

Restaurants# of different restaurants/chains

89Most frequented

SOUPLANTATIONIHOPNIBANGOLDEN BAGELIN N OUT BURGER85˚CAFEFrequency in sum

12-45+

All you can eat buffet visits

26Favorite Dish

CRÈME BRÛLÉEPoseidon Del Mar

Least favorite dish

PEACH COBBLERJoey’s Smokin’ BBQ

Odd fried foods by favorites

1. APPLE FRIESLegoland California

2. KRISPY KREME CHICKEN SANDWICHChicken Charlie’s

3. BLOOMIN ONIONSD County Fair

THE YEAR IN

Arts and EntertainmentTheater Productions Attended

5Museums Visited

2Movies Watched

27Best Movie

TOY STORY 3Pixar/Disney

Least favorite film

TERMINATOR SALVATIONWarner Brothers

Most watched

AVATARJames Cameron

Design Projects

10Best Theatre Production

AVENUE QSan Diego Civic Theatre

Best Museum

SD AIR AND SPACE MUSEUMBest Non-Human Performance

WORLD OF COLORDisney’s California Adventure

TV Series Followed/Completed

THE YEAR IN

πorkHours Spent in Lab

1966Latest Hour Spent in Lab

9:00 PMPublications

1(Currently in review)

Best Swag Received

LAPTOP BAGPOCKET KNIFE (2)BARREL OF MONKEYSMost Hours Spent in Meetings (by Week)

9

Miles Traveled Per Day

35Tweets

261Online at twitter.com/g_chen

Text Messages

830Minutes on Phone

4856Totaling 3.37 days

High/Low Temperatures

107˚F/37˚FSeptember 7, 2010 (High)

November 29, 2010 (Low)

Earthquakes felt

5

THE YEAR IN

Miscellany

Vendor Fairs Attended

8Failed Western Blots

21Elevator Rides

1051Days off

24Contaminated cell cultures

4Students

3

THE YEAR IN

Travel# of Miles Traveled

12729 MilesApproximately equal to travelling from the North Pole to the South

Pole, with some extra miles into Canada. Or Los Angeles to Sri

Landa, traveling east.

Most Miles Traveled in One Day

145Car Problems

2Trips to Disneyland

8

Highest Gas per Gallon Paid

$3.359May 6, 2010

San Diego Zoo/WAP Visits

8Bus Rides

517

Restaurant Week Trips

2Most expensive meal

BANDARGaslamp Quarter, San Diego

Boba Drinks

12Beers consumed (>1 pint)

5

Hard Liquor consumed (>10 proof, any volume)

8Comprised of two wines from San

Diego County, one from Southern

California, and the rest from

other countries.

Brands of Strawberry Lemon-ade taste tested & favorites

7Favorite Restaurant: Red Robin’s

Favorite Grocery: Trader Joe’s

12%Fast Food

33%Asian

36%American

10%European

Cuisine Distribution