| 2008-05-15 23:40 |
| It's (semi) official! |
| Public |
 excited |
I have support from Cornell for the coming school year! This is good news in that it means that I can move rather than find a new adviser, something that I have decided is the lesser of two evils. There are still a few logistics to be ironed out, but over all this seems like the right choice. I guess I'm moving to Ithaca...but for now, my alarm is going off in about 6 hours, so I guess that I should get to bed. Just thought I should make an official announcement, and since no one but me is awake, I guess I'm going to tell all of you on the internet.
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| 2008-05-02 21:14 |
| (no subject) |
| Public |
 sick |
I'm sick. I hate being sick. This morning I got up, felt lousy and told myself that it would be ok with some tea from the coffee cart. It wasn't, not really. By 10 am no fewer than three people had told me that I should really just go home (including my very sweet office mate who offered to cover my office hours). I did give up and go home at the end of my office hours. I spent a good chunk of the afternoon asleep and still feel like I got hit by a truck. I wanted to get work done today! I was so excited about my new project! I wanted to read papers and begin a great and useful mathematical discovery. Instead, I am finding it hard to focus on the New York Times on the internet, even though I spend a large portion of the afternoon dead to to the world. I think that I may have to re-think my grand plans of productivity this weekend in favor of my bed. Ok, whining over, really, I promise. Also, I'm tired again and so I think I am going to work on getting to bed.
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| 2008-04-29 20:32 |
| Rev. Jerimiah Wright for President |
| Public |
I just listened to Rev. Wright's entire National Press Club speech, plus the questions and answers. He was erudite and well spoken. He stuck (for the most part) to talking about what he knows and what he came to talk about: race and religious tradition in America, and boy did he do an excellent job. He said what seems to be what he really thinks, including some unpopular views, and he made me feel as if there is hope for a better world where we all treat each other with respect, if only we work for it.
In other news, I am seriously considering a move to Ithaca, NY for next year (and the rest of graduate school). Please feel free to put in your two cents (or more) worth.
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| 2008-04-08 08:14 |
| General Update |
| Public |
 busy |
Well, life has been pretty crazy in my neck of the woods lately. Some things that have been going on, in no particular order:
1. I might be moving. Where? I don't know, but probably somewhere I don't want to live, it depends of if/where my adviser moves. This is what you get when your adviser moves (either that or the need to find a new adviser). I'm not happy with either of those choices, so I guess I have to figure out which one I'm least unhappy with. (The fact that Alex is finally, for sure unless I leave, moving to San Diego in May doesn't help matters.)
2. I'm having issues with algebraic geometry. It just doesn't make any sense to me. Also, it has too many vocabulary words to learn.
3. Alex and I are planning (though not for sure, see 1) a trip up the coast this summer, probably as far as Olympia, Washington. If you have suggestions of places to visit or camp please make them.
4. I am having a CT scan of my sinuses in an attempt to figure out why I have been having so many headaches of doom. I like this approach much better than the dismissive "well, if only you would reduce your stress levels..." approach. (I don't understand how to reduce my stress levels without a personality transplant or quitting grad school, since my stress is related to my drive to do well in school, or to other things that I can't control.)
5. We (the regular-pub-going-on-Friday math graduate students plus significant others) were rowdy this weekend. Mostly, Friday involved a department get together with prospective students and then a trip to the pub, so there was more beer than usual. Then, Saturday, another math grad student threw a party. End result: weekend was a blast, but not so restful or workful.
6. Also, while at the pub on Friday, we saw the kid who hit on two other girls and me while so drunk he couldn't stand a few months ago, despite the fact that we informed him that the other girls were married (and a little white lie that I was engaged). When he did this the first time it was pretty creepy, since we were alone on a patio (it was raining so everyone else was inside) and this guy was huge. This Friday, he proceeded to try to chat up one of said same married girls while her husband was sitting on his other side.
7. Right now I am running the Matlab section for the linear algebra class that I TA. It is ungodly boring. (Both the content of the assignment and the sitting here while students do said assignments.)
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| 2008-02-03 23:26 |
| my new neighbors |
| Public |
 irritated |
Are playing dance/electronica loudly at 11:15 on a Sunday. I want to be asleep. I also don't want to have to get dressed to go and talk to them about this issue. Grump!
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| 2007-10-31 22:18 |
| all quiet |
| Public |
Thought you all would like to know that everything here seems to have calmed down. Everything is fine.
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| 2007-10-24 00:43 |
| One more note: |
| Public |
I think that it is worth announcing to people who are watching this from afar that it is very rare indeed for civilians (as opposed to firefighters or military personnel tasked to fire crews) to die in wildland fires in Southern California. If you do what they say, and leave when they say you need to leave, you will almost certainly be safe. The only person I know to have died as a direct result of the fires in the last several days ignored an evacuation order with the thought that he would protect his house with a garden hose. Of course, his death is sad. That said, I worry more about firefighters who have to go get those sorts of folks when they realize that this was a bad plan. The people who run the show here really know what they are doing. I plan to follow their directions. If you are in position to get their directions, you should follow them too.
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| 2007-10-23 23:32 |
| still here |
| Public |
Just thought that everyone would like to know that I am still alive and kicking in San Diego. I'm thinking about leaving for a while this weekend (school canceled until Monday at the earliest), and I will post updates here if I get a chance. Let me tell you kids, this fire is bad news. Some indicators of the bad news-ness:
1. If you are getting your fire engines from Tijuana, it's a good sign about international cooperation, but a bad sign about how on fire your county is. Tijuana sent us at least four engines today.
2. When radio stations go dark, it's a sign of the apocalypse. KPBS, our local NPR affiliate went dead this morning about about 5:30 am, after their transmission tower was damaged by the fire. They are now broadcasting online (yesterday this was down because of server overload), and on FM94.9, a local rock station (though this station is not broadcasting the KPBS feed commercial free). I didn't wake up as planned this morning because my wake up radio was dead air.
3. The fact that I didn't wake up was just fine, since there was no where to go. UCSD has canceled classed until Monday at the earliest, largely because of air quality concerns and because a lot of faculty and staff has been a bit busy evacuating their homes, but also just to keep people from trying to get there using resources such as roads.
4. This map gives a pretty decent overview of what's going on in the county. Click on the yellow push pin to get a legend. The red means fire. Notice that there is a lot of that red stuff.
5. The San Diego County emergency website says that the Harris fire (SE San Diego County--bottom right corner of the map) is 10% contained (more than the Witch fire in the middle of the map which is closer to more people and more destruction of people's houses) and they say it will be a week before it is fully contained. Who knows about the Witch fire. Maybe I will get more than a week off of school over the air quality?
6. 300,000 people have been evacuated. Really, that is a large fraction of the county population. I saw professors at my office today toting pillows because they had been ordered to evacuate the night before.
In alternate, good news:
1. People are being generally amazing. There has been a whole lot of people who have done a whole lot of good things to make it so that people can have a place to sleep, even if it is in Qualcom Stadium. Everything from bringing food and clothing to evacuation sites to medical personnel just turning up where they are evacuating people from nursing homes and the like.
2. 94.9, which is a commercial rock station, has turned over its airwaves to KPBS, in the interest of the greater good. I am listening to it as we speak.
3. Even Tijuana sent us engines.
4. It turns out I have very nice neighbors. I have been talking to them a little bit more in the last 48 hours.
5. People are even joining forces to pray. Seriously, one of the announcements on KPBS was "if you want to get together to pray show up here."
6. The coverage that KPBS is providing over 94.9. KPBS is taking calls to match needs with givers, and to get news from people around the county.
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| 2007-10-21 19:09 |
| fires |
| Public |
 distressed |
There are two out of control wild land fires in San Diego county as I type this. I have lived in Southern California long enough to know that people who do what the authorities say don't die in brush fires here. Usually, they can even save a car load of family heirlooms. I have live in Southern California long enough to know that I don't live somewhere that is going to catch on fire (at least not as a result of these fires). If anything bad and flaming is going to happen here as a result of brush fires, I will know with about a million years of warning. That said, all of this is putting me in a very strange mood. I can see a decent sized list of reasons:
1. Breathing issues related to smoke, which has blown here.
2. It all reminds me of when the Angles National Forrest was on fire in fourth grade. The Angeles National Forrest is a couple of blocks from my dad's house.
3. Thor. I usually think of Thor for a few seconds when I pass a fire truck. I say "Thor, they're playing your song," and then I go on with my life. But with a constant assault on my senses, I think of him more. And then I think about how the news said that this fire is moving fast, faster than you can drive an engine, and then I worry for all of the people on fire lines tonight, and for their families.
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| 2007-09-20 22:07 |
| broken dishes |
| Public |
 blah |
Broken dishes hurt! In fact, they draw blood, which I learned tonight when I (somehow, I don't know how) tipped over my dish rack, causing much noise, several broken dishes and two cuts. I'm declaring myself done for the night. I think that this is a sign: go to bed, and contemplate trying again tomorrow.
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| 2007-06-09 01:32 |
| Joy! |
| Public |
| happy |
I thought I should make some announcement. I passed the qualifying exams I took! I now have only one left, and not until next spring.
In other news that makes me happy, I've been to two quite enjoyable parties this week, including one that I just got home from. It was nice to spend time talking and laughing amongst friends. It was nice to even remember that I have friends this week, since I seem to have forgotten that with the insanity of quals. I've promised myself a few weeks of relaxation, and no guilt about not getting anything done, should I not actually get anything done. Then, I'm looking forward to a summer of rewarding math.
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| 2007-05-23 22:40 |
| madder than hell! |
| Public |
| infuriated |
I surfaced from qual-studying, and made the mistake of looking at the news. I am incredibly angry at the paternalistic attitudes of five justices of the Supreme Court. Abortion is painful and awful, and I really do think that we have more of them in this nation than is a good thing. That said, I'm not convinced that legal restriction is the way to prevent them, so much as to cause more loss of life through underground abortions. Needless to say, I don't agree with the Supreme Courts recent decision. That said, that's not what makes me so angry. I am angry that an old man thinks that he knows better than a woman and her doctor what is good for a woman, and had the nerve to say so in an opinion. Yes, abortion is probably not good for most people. That isn't the question. The question is, is it better than the other available options? Will it be the thing of least harm in a bad situation?
Now the question remains, what to do? Unlike my elected officials, I cannot call or write to express my outrage. Is there anything TO do?
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| 2007-05-05 22:33 |
| DOOM |
| Public |
I hate this studying for quals thing. It sucks. I hate the person I turn into under all of this stress. Make it stop, please?
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| 2007-03-17 16:14 |
| War, protests and Civil Scoiety |
| Public |
| angry |
It seems that we cannot manage a conversation in this society about the War in Iraq without accusing the other side of being unpatriotic, or even treasonous. Despite all of the tragedy that has flowed from this war (and, whatever your viewpoint on the worth of the war, it's hard to argue about the tragedy of so much death), I am most appalled at out inability to achieve a reasonable sort of debate about the war. People need to be grownups, and assume the other side has a different viewpoint, or different information, not corrupt morals.
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| 2007-03-13 18:38 |
| tastes like the past |
| Public |
I made chicken soup a while ago. Then, I had to do something with the chicken, so I made chicken pie, and put it in the freezer. Today, I took it out and baked it. I had used my grandmother's chicken pie recipe. It turned out well, and it's got me thinking about my extended family, and going to family events at my mom's parents. I really miss those wonderful times (which I'm sure I undervalued then, even though I liked them). I miss grandma's cooking (she's given it up), and my grandparents' house (grandma sold it after grandpa died and moved to a retirement place), and my whole family being all together. Vanessa once discribed this extended family as freakish because they actually like each other, and try to make each other happy (modulo usual sibling stuff, etc).
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| 2006-09-14 20:48 |
| Not in my name! |
| Public |
| angry |
This is it. Not to sound alarmist, but well, I believe that there is genuine cause for alarm. Eleven score and ten years ago, our fathers brought forth upon this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. In order to become such a nation, we have also proudly been a nation "dedicated to the rule of law, not of men," since well before Chief Justice Marshall phrased it just so two centuries ago. That rule of law is now in jeopardy, with the terrorism tribunal bill that President Bush is presently trying to railroad through Congress in order to wave it in front of the public before the midterm elections. The bill as proposed allows far to many people to be deemed enemy combatants, far too easily. Google and then write your elected representatives.
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| 2006-09-03 22:07 |
| crazy insane girl |
| Public |
 stressed |
Ok, in a little under 50 hours I will take a qualifying exam in real analysis. Right now, I feel like a jumpy, jittery, unable to even focus on reading internet newpapers, ball of doom.
The cats just made a run for it. I had to run after them in the dark. Pablo was easy to catch, he's a little fat and like people, but Diego is more cat like, and made me chase him through the bushes in the dark. both are now safely inside, but the patio door (as thus the ventilation) is closed, as it's troubled latch (probably from when Diego climbed it all the way to the ceiling earlier) doesn't keep the cats in.
Still, I feel a little better after my chase of Diego through the bushes. Strange.
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| 2006-08-03 20:22 |
| Finally.... |
| Public |
| happy |
I've found a neighborhood that I might like to live in that is potentially actually semi-affordable! Maybe more semi than affordable, but still it's better than I've found anywhere else. It's Hillcrest, which puts me conviently near the medical center-campus shuttle to take me to school. It feels much more like a city than UTC in La Jolla, which is where I live now, an endless stream of condo hell. I'm here trough December, but after I'm a little settled in with school in September, I will be looking for a place in Hillcrest in earnest.
In other exciting news, yesterday I actually helped someone learn math (computability thoery to be exact). This makes me really happy and proud of myself.
And now I'm off to do some more analysis.
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| 2006-07-29 23:21 |
| (no subject) |
| Public |
I really love open freeways at night. There is something that feels very free and also very safe about driving fast on the interstae at night. There is some very comforting combination about the open road lit by reflective dots, the warm glow of the dash gauges and the notion that I could be almost anywhere by morning. It also evokes fond memories, going to my grandparents with my mom when I was little, later, taking trips to northern California with my mom and speeding down vast streaches of I-5. It brings up driving through western Pennsylvania last summer with Alex alseep in the passenger seat on our way from Boston back to Detroit. I was reminded of all of this tonight, as I drove down the 5 on the way back to my apartment in La Jolla, after getting of the train in Oceanside, following a nice, satisfying day trip to LA and Pasadena.
In unrelated news, my roommate seems to be storing the kitty litter leavings (shall we call them) under the kitchen sink. Guesses as to what he's saving them for?
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| 2006-07-22 01:11 |
| and he shall know the truth.... |
| Public |
| angry |
There is a new controversy involving NASA and Bush administration policies. The mission statement has been redone. It no longer says that NASA is to "understand and protect" Earth. People are pretty upset about this. I don't blame them. I'm made very angry by people who are not interested in Truth, or even truth. And you are just building yourself up to look stupider in the end if you don't acknowledge truth (even when you don't like it). But maybe this won't be a problem if the End comes before that.
Ok, this is sounding almost biblically evangelical. Which is pretty funny coming from me. And creepy.
I'm focusing on this, because I the other things that I'm more upset about (people killing each other in very direct ways, rather than with lots of carbon dioxide), I can't understand or do anything about. I want to hide in a hole and cry.
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