i just spoke with the graduate people at penn st. and maryland, and they didn't really have much to tell me. penn st. offers a few assistantships at a time, waits to hear if people accept them or not, then hands out a few more. so, i may not know if i'm offered one until the summer, and thats no good. maryland, on the other hand, has been on spring break, so they said to expect something next week. uc-davis informed me last week that they hadn't received my GRE scores yet, even though i have a receipt that i sent them in OCTOBER. but hey, whatever.
so for now, it looks like things are pointing to osu. why can't it be out of this state?
mike, i won the Ogg scholarship last year (the huge one?), congratulations. in fact, i think that's the last time i saw katie was at the awards ceremony. now you're making me nervous though, mike, because i was kind of hoping for a 'senior math student' award since, well, i'm a senior math student, but so far i haven't gotten any notification in the mail. that, or other grad school news. i've actually waited on the mail a few times this week, only to get a letter from colorado saying, "you're admitted, we give you no financial assistance," which i already knew. anyway, i'll return the focus of this paragraph to mike, congratulations. it pays to work hard at the math & physics.
and congrats to justin, who won the student film festival with his awesome film, crutches. we had a blast watching his and other students' films, its pretty incredible what the computer art department is churning out.
pinewood hung out around our pool table in our practice room tonight listening to crank yankers, which wasn't as funny as the actual tv show. but it was like the old days again. i also managed to squeeze in my first game of disc golf with tim this evening, i shot a -3! i usually don't play that well until may, certainly not on the first day of the season. so maybe i can improve on my -7 best score some time this year.
i think i did well on my thermodynamics test this morning, it was four problems long and took me 1:15 to finish them. my math midterm is shaky at best, but i think i'll be ok.
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thumbs up: hi tomorrow is 72
thumbs down: knowing i'm only going to sleep for 6 hours tonight
quote:
cd rotation: weezer: pinkerton
&
coldplay: parachutes
i thought my professors were going to slice my head off, when they realize how much of a moron i am, but rather they were awesome as usual. why do we fear the worst when we have to meet with a professor? i genuinely think they like having us students stop by, it probably breaks up the monotony of sitting in front of a computer all day.
**new mission**
if you haven't talked to a professor lately (or teacher if you're still in HS) about non-school related stuff, try to do so within the next week. i talked about backpacking in carolina with my physics prof, and then about the inner politics of texas with another math prof (FYI mike, it was tong sun). report back with your findings.
my time was spent studying (again) for this thermo exam tomorrow morning, there's a lot of material and i'm only now starting to get some of it. i'll try to get my math-take home exam finished (again) by tomorrow so that i'll be able to enjoy friday a little bit. i heard its supposed to snow on sunday! how crappy is that?!
i took a late night run just now, it was great. campus is awesome at night when very few people are out, and those that are are usually having a good time. plus it got my energy up to hit the books again.
i have some thoughts on your post justin but right now i'm feeling pretty cynical, so i'll wait until my head clears a little. and you know what may be interesting? i heard that h2o is planning on being in the theater tomorrow night at 8pm (setup at 5pm). then i saw a flyer and remembered your emails, the CRUTCHES MOVIE PREMIERE is at 7pm in the same union theater. wonder what'll happen...
glad to hear you're doing well, wags.
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thumbs up: the cool night breeze (a good name for a jazz band)
thumbs down: the Q-4 dinner fell apart
quote: "in the sun, having fun, it's in my blood, i just can't help it" - the strokes
cd rotation: jimmy: clarity (i decided today, my favorite album of all time)
yeah justin, you post more than mike. i was trying to be funny and pick the person who needs to blog more by saying that they need to blog less. so mike may be thinking, 'yeah, i do blog a lot' when he really doesn't. well, sometimes, anyway, i don't want to give you too much crap. i'm a regular blogger because that's what i do before i go to bed. just like brushing the teeth.
pinewood was interviewed for an article & pictures in the sentinel tribune, the bg newspaper, i'll post the article when it gets printed. the last interview i did was for pinewood was on the radio a year or two ago, those were the days.
warning: school complaint ahead. you see, if i put in the time for some of these projects and actually understand what's going on, that's ok with me. but if i put in a lot of time, and get nothing accomplished because i don't understand the material, that sucks. take this math take-home, for instance. the exam is five problems from the book, only two of which seem relevant to the course material. the other three use a technique that we've never gone over in class, and is not to be found in the book. i get so frustrated while trying to learn this all myself, when i have no idea how to do the problem. tomorrow, for the third time, i will find myself in my professor's office going through the problems again.
then i think of my other classes, and cringe, except for maybe two of them, because i have so much other crap to do in them. i don't know if this is how you go through college, but i feel like i ALWAYS have some test or assignment hanging over my head. that i always need to be somewhere, studying something. the short blocks of time i have each day where i'm not studying, i always think to myself that i should be.
or maybe you don't have the crazy school schedule that i do, and you're better off. it would be one thing if i was actually learning something (like last spring), rather than getting frustrated every night around 11pm. i'm ready to toss in the towel again.
did you see my roommate ray on page two of the BG NEWS?
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thumbs up: pinewood like old times
thumbs down: math 452, hnrs 499, mime 3400
quote: "no i'm sorry, the monterey chicken quesadilla was for a limited time only" - taco bell, the steak version is nowhere near as good
cd rotation: dashboard confessional: unplugged
&
saves the day: stay what you are
i fell down the stairs today in the math/sci library. yes, there were lots of people around. i was sliding down the steps in my new flip-flops, which i discover have zero traction, so i just wiped out and slid down a few more than i had intended to. with my face as red as my shirt (and flip-flops) i left the library quite humbled. i wish i could've gotten it on camera.
thanks for writing about the war, everyone. i think you're right that we what we see of the war is far different than what our leaders see, and that our opinions are shaped by whatever images or articles we read that day. to be informed about the war would take much more time than we all have, i think.
training day #2 went well today, i ran about 3 1/2 and did my usual post-run workout. i started eating a little better too (more protein for worn muscles, fruit and juice and water rather than coffee) and i feel tired but good.
i don't know how it happens, but EVERY week is busy, this week i'm eyeing my thermo test on thursday, a new program and take-home from a math class, plus my independent studies that are traveling along at a decent clip. only six more weeks, plus exams, and i'll have a cap on my head and a fake diploma on my wall.
grad school decision must be made by april 15, so i'll let you know as soon as i do.
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thumbs up: walking outside
thumbs down: ah, the humanity
quote: "i think i lost my paper because my computer crashed" - lesson learned: DONT USE A PC
cd rotation: saves the day: through being cool (which is how i feel about now)
you all need to blog more often. except for you, mike. and i hope you post some pictures, andrew, sounds like break was pretty sweet.
so i had a pretty good talk with kurt about the war and the environment, and then another good talk with jesse and mike tonight about the war and what we think of it.
**NEW MISSION**
please write in your blog what you think about the war. you don't have to be for or against, just what you think about it. because its to important not to think about.
what about me, you say? i'm generally all about peace, i can't stand to see people fight with fists, much less guns and bombs. is war ever justified? i think it can be (see pearl harbor) but i don't really think this war is. i don't think the war is all about oil - though, war is going on all over the globe, so why are we fighting iraq?
i took a course last year on the vietnam war, and the resemblence to todays scenario is pretty striking - we're assisting a smaller nation from a larger enemy by trying to take over the government. do you know what happened when we tried to set up a democracy in south vietnam? it didn't work. not only did we not win the war, but we failed in setting up a legitimate government in the years immediately following the armistice. i think we can learn a lesson that, if we win this war against iraq, and try to set up a government, we are guaranteeing at least 10 more years of heavy involvement in the middle east. i don't like the situation one bit.
but i've yet to find a better alternative. the UN inspections were slow and political. what else is there to do?
watch the ncaa tournament, i guess. there at least the underdog can win and everyone (but my bracket) can be happy. wake forest lost today, i had them winning three more games. ouch.
i just talked to ray who danced at dance marathon, he's still pretty tired. somehow he doesn't have class tomorrow though. my other roommie patrick volunteered over 25 hours on the sound team, i don't think they were appreciated enough, either.
not ready to start another week.
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thumbs up: watching jesse sink the 8-ball when he was trying to hit the 1-ball in (which means my team won)
thumbs down: math take-home exam
quote: "dark yellow snot is coming out of my left nostril" - rick
cd rotation: brandtson: dial in sounds
i saw the coolest thing today: a bunch of international students playing cricket on a sidewalk near the field house, using a plastic lawn chair as their base. they were playing for a few hours at least, and were really, really into it. then i saw a kid with a long rat-tail hitting a plastic bottle of coke with a stick in my parking lot. that just goes to show how much cooler international people are than us.
dance marathon was pretty fun, jesse and i helped the sound team out a little bit and screwed around with ray, sherry, and stef who were 'dancing.' they'll be there for another 20 or so hours.
mike's birthday party was cool too, i'm amazed at his power to get the ladies over to his house. it was really crowded when we left, and unfortunately central michigan was losing big-time.
i came home early because i'm tired from class this morning and doing homework all afternoon. i got a lot accomplished, which is sweet, although i don't have my take-home exam finished for my math class yet. you know what i'm getting tired of? people giving me crap for studying a lot. i mean, i'm grateful for the times that you help me to live a little and look past my books, but when it's a lazy saturday afternoon and you're giving me crap for wanting to get work done, for wanting to do something with my time, for wanting to get something out of my university experience, for wanting to actually learn something, it really stinking gets to me. i know i study a lot but sometimes i need to. i don't want to sound snobby here but once, just once, i'd like to hear someone tell me that i'm not a nerd but that i'm a little wise for wanting to do something in my classes. college isn't cheap. and if you're not going to learn anything now, then when?
that said, i know school should not be my life, and its not, i just need to get through some classes now so i'll have more free time when the weather turns to 60s and 70s. then, i hope, my hard work will pay off.
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thumbs up: seeing the line dance at dance marathon
thumbs down: stepping in mud
quote: "i remember you! you're beth's little sister. you came up for sibs-n-kids weekend, and you were really annoying." - me to beth's 15-year-old sister, after which my foot was placed firmly in my mouth (but for the record, she was a 12 year old brat at the time)
cd rotation: kath's fall collection
