Tuesday, May 17, 2005
I Will Walk 500 Miles
I have some homework I could be doing right now, but I just can't force myself to do it. So here I am, writing an entry that has been a long time in the making. I think I'll steal Stacie's lovely bullet format to summarize the last week...
--Do you all remember my writing about my inability to understand negative logic in digital design? Well, I went to a couple more office hours in addition to reading through the book and beating myself over the head with some homework problems for a few hours, and after all of the work it has all finally become clear to me. Crystal. Ahhhhhh...such a relief! It's actually quite exciting. Both my lecture and lab instructors will admit that they're a little fuzzy on the topic. When Dr. Mealy asked if I had come to understand negative logic and I told him I had, he asked what it was that made it so clear to me, and long story short it turned into a half-hour discussion of the topic. We disagreed on a few points, but I'm certain that I proved I knew what I was talking about. It was so much fun...it was my first full-blown academic discussion! I was all making points and backing them up with examples and stuff. We ended on Dr. Mealy wanting to think about what I had said, so I guess we'll have a continuation of the debate sometime later. But anyway, I am thrilled to have this thing that was causing me so much grief to become something that I actually enjoy thinking about and working with.
--I have a rash on me in a place that isn't really visually accessible to anyone but myself; I went to the health center on Thursday to have it checked out. I've actually had this for a long time...I don't notice it at all because it isn't painful in the slightest. I only actually went to the health center after Courtney convinced me it was for the best. Anyway, after some oh-so-pleasurable examination, Dr. Ascoli said that he thought it was my body producing excess keratin, which is a wax that our skin naturally produces. He said that his guess was that it is nothing to worry about, so hooray. He did admit, however, that he couldn't say for sure one way or the other, so he gave me some recommendations. The first thing he wanted to do was test me for all sorts of STDs, but we avoided any worry over that after I updated him on the status of my sex life. (This part was actually very comical. The doc didn't really seem to believe that I'm not sexually active...he sprinkled his explanations with things like "well IF that's the truth" and "if you REALLY haven't had sex," which I found amusing. He admitted that he operates on the assumption that all of his patients have had sex.) So now I'm left with three options. The first is to get a second opinion. The second is to do nothing. And the third (my personal favorite) is to remove a sample of the rash and have it analyzed, which involves numbing the area and cutting down to the bottom layer of skin, a process which will leave a scar, which carries the risk of infection, and which costs $180. So what am I going to do? Seeing as how a visit to the health center doesn't cost me squat, I'm going with the second opinion plan. I have an appointment tomorrow.
--I had a midterm on Friday in linear analysis. I elected on Thursday to spend the evening with Courtney instead of studying, so I went into the midterm only with some glances through my notes in the three classes immediately preceding the exam. This was a reasoned decision; I spent a long time over last weekend doing a buttload of homework for this class, and I was able to get through all of it with a good understanding of the material. (You all know that I wouldn't blow off studying for a midterm if I didn't think I was ready for it.) So anyway, I got the midterm back yesterday: 60/60! Oh fo rizzle! I'm very proud of myself after this...not so much because I did well, but because this doesn't seem like something I would normally do. Spending an hour or two reviewing would be the safe thing to do. But I was fairly confident that I was going to do well, so I took a little bit of a risk. And that's why I'm proud. I've felt lately that I'm living my life a little too fearfully, which I think has a lot to do with watching how Courtney lives her life. As I believe I put it a few days ago, Courtney has done all of the things that I've wanted to do but have been too afraid to try. I feel like I've taken a step in a new direction...a direction that I actually like. I didn't know whether I would do exceptionally well or not, but I was able to accept that if I didn't do well then it wouldn't be the end of the world.
--Relay for Life was an absolute blast!! I had so much fun! I got there at about 9:30ish on Saturday morning. The event kicked off at 10:00, and everyone on team Accelerando Georged the first lap. From then on, we had at least one person on the track for the next 24 hours. I personally walked for probably about 3.5 to 4 hours, in one-hourish shifts. I often had someone with me to chat with, and this was what I enjoyed the most. I got to know a few people who I had previously never really talked to...and I found that they're all exceptionally friendly. (See? There are more people than just Courtney in KKPsi. (I've been told that it's technically not correct to write "KKY," so "KKPsi" it shall be. (and sorry about the nested parenthesis))) When I had no one to accompany me on the walk, I carried my trusty mp3 player. The part of the day not walking was spent conversing, playing Taboo, playing hearts, trying not to be attacked by people with super soakers, and watching various forms of entertainment (including the swing and salsa clubs, the juggling club, and a hypnotist). I had to leave at 3:00 pm to find my keys (which I had left in my room) in order to get to my 4:00 sectional (which Singh let me know about on Friday...grumble grumble) on time. I came back by 5:30 and was at the Relay until two in the morning, at which point I went home to get some sleep. (I had no sleeping bag, and we all know it would have been pointless for me to try to sleep through the ruckus of the event.) I dragged my butt out of bed at 5:30 to get down to Dexter Lawn by 6:00 to start my last walking shift of the event. I hung out down there until it ended at 10:00, at which point we went over to JD's house for some delicious pancakes (with homemade syrup!). All in all, I had a great time. I'm still a little tired, and I'm still a tad bit behind on homework...but it was worth it. Oh and about the finances: our team raised over $1300, of which $370 was collected by yours truly. The event as a whole raised over $41,000 for ACS. So hooray.
Some choice pictures:
Huddle under the blanket (and yes, that's Amanda Witko in the upper right):
Luminarias:
The survivors of the event:
And those are the major things that I feel are worthy of mention. I will now either watch an episode of Friends or will study for my Friday midterms...hmmm...not sure. But I don't have class until ten tomorrow, so I can stay up slightly later than usual. Good night, all. I wish you all the most pleasant dreams.
To be the man who falls down at your door,
Josh
mood: eh...all right
music: none because I was having trouble concentrating on what I was writing (my attention span drops when I'm tired)
location: dorm
Quoted Randomness:
[a reaction to the undercooked tri-tip served to us at VG's]
"It's...like...still mooing!"
--Courtney von Bergen
--Do you all remember my writing about my inability to understand negative logic in digital design? Well, I went to a couple more office hours in addition to reading through the book and beating myself over the head with some homework problems for a few hours, and after all of the work it has all finally become clear to me. Crystal. Ahhhhhh...such a relief! It's actually quite exciting. Both my lecture and lab instructors will admit that they're a little fuzzy on the topic. When Dr. Mealy asked if I had come to understand negative logic and I told him I had, he asked what it was that made it so clear to me, and long story short it turned into a half-hour discussion of the topic. We disagreed on a few points, but I'm certain that I proved I knew what I was talking about. It was so much fun...it was my first full-blown academic discussion! I was all making points and backing them up with examples and stuff. We ended on Dr. Mealy wanting to think about what I had said, so I guess we'll have a continuation of the debate sometime later. But anyway, I am thrilled to have this thing that was causing me so much grief to become something that I actually enjoy thinking about and working with.
--I have a rash on me in a place that isn't really visually accessible to anyone but myself; I went to the health center on Thursday to have it checked out. I've actually had this for a long time...I don't notice it at all because it isn't painful in the slightest. I only actually went to the health center after Courtney convinced me it was for the best. Anyway, after some oh-so-pleasurable examination, Dr. Ascoli said that he thought it was my body producing excess keratin, which is a wax that our skin naturally produces. He said that his guess was that it is nothing to worry about, so hooray. He did admit, however, that he couldn't say for sure one way or the other, so he gave me some recommendations. The first thing he wanted to do was test me for all sorts of STDs, but we avoided any worry over that after I updated him on the status of my sex life. (This part was actually very comical. The doc didn't really seem to believe that I'm not sexually active...he sprinkled his explanations with things like "well IF that's the truth" and "if you REALLY haven't had sex," which I found amusing. He admitted that he operates on the assumption that all of his patients have had sex.) So now I'm left with three options. The first is to get a second opinion. The second is to do nothing. And the third (my personal favorite) is to remove a sample of the rash and have it analyzed, which involves numbing the area and cutting down to the bottom layer of skin, a process which will leave a scar, which carries the risk of infection, and which costs $180. So what am I going to do? Seeing as how a visit to the health center doesn't cost me squat, I'm going with the second opinion plan. I have an appointment tomorrow.
--I had a midterm on Friday in linear analysis. I elected on Thursday to spend the evening with Courtney instead of studying, so I went into the midterm only with some glances through my notes in the three classes immediately preceding the exam. This was a reasoned decision; I spent a long time over last weekend doing a buttload of homework for this class, and I was able to get through all of it with a good understanding of the material. (You all know that I wouldn't blow off studying for a midterm if I didn't think I was ready for it.) So anyway, I got the midterm back yesterday: 60/60! Oh fo rizzle! I'm very proud of myself after this...not so much because I did well, but because this doesn't seem like something I would normally do. Spending an hour or two reviewing would be the safe thing to do. But I was fairly confident that I was going to do well, so I took a little bit of a risk. And that's why I'm proud. I've felt lately that I'm living my life a little too fearfully, which I think has a lot to do with watching how Courtney lives her life. As I believe I put it a few days ago, Courtney has done all of the things that I've wanted to do but have been too afraid to try. I feel like I've taken a step in a new direction...a direction that I actually like. I didn't know whether I would do exceptionally well or not, but I was able to accept that if I didn't do well then it wouldn't be the end of the world.
--Relay for Life was an absolute blast!! I had so much fun! I got there at about 9:30ish on Saturday morning. The event kicked off at 10:00, and everyone on team Accelerando Georged the first lap. From then on, we had at least one person on the track for the next 24 hours. I personally walked for probably about 3.5 to 4 hours, in one-hourish shifts. I often had someone with me to chat with, and this was what I enjoyed the most. I got to know a few people who I had previously never really talked to...and I found that they're all exceptionally friendly. (See? There are more people than just Courtney in KKPsi. (I've been told that it's technically not correct to write "KKY," so "KKPsi" it shall be. (and sorry about the nested parenthesis))) When I had no one to accompany me on the walk, I carried my trusty mp3 player. The part of the day not walking was spent conversing, playing Taboo, playing hearts, trying not to be attacked by people with super soakers, and watching various forms of entertainment (including the swing and salsa clubs, the juggling club, and a hypnotist). I had to leave at 3:00 pm to find my keys (which I had left in my room) in order to get to my 4:00 sectional (which Singh let me know about on Friday...grumble grumble) on time. I came back by 5:30 and was at the Relay until two in the morning, at which point I went home to get some sleep. (I had no sleeping bag, and we all know it would have been pointless for me to try to sleep through the ruckus of the event.) I dragged my butt out of bed at 5:30 to get down to Dexter Lawn by 6:00 to start my last walking shift of the event. I hung out down there until it ended at 10:00, at which point we went over to JD's house for some delicious pancakes (with homemade syrup!). All in all, I had a great time. I'm still a little tired, and I'm still a tad bit behind on homework...but it was worth it. Oh and about the finances: our team raised over $1300, of which $370 was collected by yours truly. The event as a whole raised over $41,000 for ACS. So hooray.
Some choice pictures:
Huddle under the blanket (and yes, that's Amanda Witko in the upper right):
Luminarias:
The survivors of the event:
And those are the major things that I feel are worthy of mention. I will now either watch an episode of Friends or will study for my Friday midterms...hmmm...not sure. But I don't have class until ten tomorrow, so I can stay up slightly later than usual. Good night, all. I wish you all the most pleasant dreams.
To be the man who falls down at your door,
Josh
mood: eh...all right
music: none because I was having trouble concentrating on what I was writing (my attention span drops when I'm tired)
location: dorm
Quoted Randomness:
[a reaction to the undercooked tri-tip served to us at VG's]
"It's...like...still mooing!"
--Courtney von Bergen
