| Children of Men, and qualifier woes |
[Jan. 9th, 2007|07:18 pm] |
I'm just starting my qualifier today! I'm honestly a lot less stressed now that it's started. I've been sick for the past week and the professors were nice enough to postpone it for several days. So for the next eleven days, I will disappear into a hole and learn a whole lot about thermodynamics and steam engines. My friend looked at the problem I'm supposed to solve, looked profoundly puzzled and said, "i don't understand how you can bear to do this stuff" I found that deeply amusing because at that moment I was so relieved that the problem was about two things that I find really interesting: Trains, and heat transfer. Maybe this PhD thing is a good idea afterall...
So after the qualifier, I'm gonna actually keep up with this journal thing, I think.
And I have a sincere movie recommendation. Go see Children of Men. I think it's the best movie I've seen since whenever, and It's gonna stay with me for a long time. With that said, be warned, it's very tense. Kinda like the first three minutes of Saving Private Ryan, but instead of WWII, it's more like the raw footage coming out of Iraq. I didn't know a thing about the movie before I saw it, and I loved that surprise, so I'll stop here. But if anyone has seen it already, post back, I'd love to discuss. |
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| One more Day in San Francisco. SUGGESTIONS??? |
[Dec. 16th, 2006|02:29 am] |
Awesome time in San Francisco!
I know I've been notoriously absent from LJ for way too long. I fell into that trap where I post only when times are rough. ie things have been very good for a while now.
AND I will give a nice update here soon.
BUT I'm really posting here to see if you guys have any great ideas for things to do in San Francisco. I have all Sunday afternoon and Night until my flight leaves at 5:00 AM Monday. I think we're going to the EndUp at some point. Any other ideas?
Things we (nicole and myself) have already done:
Fisherman's warf, Cable cars, Giardelli's, clam chowder.
Tom Waits came in behind me at a pizza shop and ordered a pizza. The guy making my pizza burned it because he was star struck. I wanted to say hi, but he seemed to get shy when i started looking at him. I was really surprized because I thought he'd look a lot older and beat up. He looked really sharp, wearing clean new jeans and these kickass boots.
And I got a cellar tour of Pride Mountain Winery. Mindblowing experience for any oenophile. They make the best cabernet in the world, period. And I got to drink it straight from the barrel. I was drunk on the experience. And we got a bottle for free! Nuts nuts nuts.
love you guys,
ab |
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| my first meme |
[Jun. 13th, 2006|07:42 pm] |
| You Have A Type B Personality |
You're as laid back as they come...
Your baseline mood is calm and level headed
Creativity and philosophy tend to be your forte
Like a natural sedative, you have a soothing effect on people
Friends and family often turn to you first with their problems
You have the personality to be a spiritual or psychological guru |
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| (no subject) |
[May. 16th, 2006|11:49 pm] |
Man, did I have a dream last night. I remember a lot of them being really good, but only remember the last one. That was when I had to go back to high school in the present day because I didn't have all the coursework I needed to be an engineer. It was crazy running around the halls trying to find my homeroom on the first day of classes in this huge school. All the while, I keep on thinking, "what am I gonna get out of THIS?' A lot of kids are giving me a hard time, but i just find it amusing. And I feel taller than them, which is cool. So I finally find my homeroom in the back corner of the school, and there are a bunch of kids waiting for the teacher, who is later than me. As we wait, they look at me funny, kinda angry for some reason. I think it's because I'm pushing their limits somehow. You're not supposed to be out in highschool, or 26 years old... But the teacher finally comes in and the class' attention goes elsewhere. And that's when I realize what I'm wearing: a tight-knit sweater in vivid horizontal rainbow pride stripes ; a black leather gauntlet on my left wrist; a locking metal clasp on my right; and finally a rainbow scullcap tightly wrapped over my head. Completely surprised by my newfound wardrobe, i take the scullcap off to find my hair still curly, but pushed flat, and bleach blonde. Wow, I think to myself, this is pretty cool. And then I realize why I had gone back to high school. |
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| Thank you for smoking |
[Apr. 17th, 2006|11:19 pm] |
| [ | Tags | | | trip | ] |
| [ | mood |
| |  good | ] |
| [ | music |
| | cream, prince | ] |
I just saw "Thank You for Smoking" tonight. It was one of the sharpest, funniest movies I've seen in a long time. I'd be really interested in hearing what other people think of it. I don't really think it was anti-smoking or anti-big tobacco, certainly not in the way one expects. It was much more subtle than that. Some people may not even like how the movie villanizes the anti-tobacco lobby. But I just found it halarious.
I had a crazy fun weekend. Saturday was a perfect Spring day and I spent it all outside in the sun. The parks were full to the brim with kids. It was so pleasant.
I have a great story to tell about that Saturday. It was so good that Nicole and I retold it on video. Instead of trying to recreate it again, I think I'll edit the vieo and post it online once I get it from our videographer. |
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| Brain Dead |
[Apr. 13th, 2006|08:13 pm] |
| [ | Tags | | | lab, work | ] |
| [ | mood |
| |  exhausted | ] |
| [ | music |
| | nope | ] |
Sooo brain dead. I actually woke up on time this morning to prepare a presentation for a class this afternoon. It was a big deal because it was the only chance for the professor to see my work, independent from the group I'm in. And to my dread, as I read the journal article I picked out to review, I realized that it wasn't very good, and had almost nothing to do with what we were studying!!! I flipped out - my heart rate went through the roof. I drank too much coffee and just went nuts trying to figure out what to do. Finally, I found another article by the same authors that was essentially part two of the paper, and was much more relevant. I wrote an outline of both articles and sent the second article out to the whole class explaining that I'd go over it, but didn't expect to have it read by class.
Then I ran to class to give my presentation. To my surprise, it went really well. But it was exhausting. It was practically a PhD qualifier. The professor asked me to explain Center of Pressure using a free body diagram, to which I did my best, but then we got in a long discussion/debate about where the force vector can go. Later, he asked me to apply this big nasty vector-calculus equation for Optic flow to an actual matrix of pixels. Does anybody really remember how to find the gradient of a matrix element???? I don't think so. But I got through it with a bit of help. I think my TA experience this past semester was a huge help. I was comfortable in front of the chalk board. And the end result was really facinating, because it showed that the equation actually works. I ended by showing videos, and everyone loves videos. I even snuck one in of The Colbert Report. That was great.
Then I had to rebuild a Lego Robot for my group. But while doing that, I remebered that I was suposed to be helping my lab mates paint a new room. So off I ran to pitch in. It was kinda fun, but utterly physically exhausting.
THEN, I got asked to give a tour of the lab to a high school class. I was completely dead by that point, but I couldn't say no. I really believe in these outreach programs, and I don't get many opportunities to help out. I don't know how much of a rolemodel I could have been; I was wearing Nicole's painting shirt, a girl-cut Rugrats Tshirt. I think I sounded enthusiastic, but more of a drunk enthusiastic. I relied heavily on my lab mates to help out with parts of the tour. It was still fun.
And here I am, still in the lab. Should I keep on working? All I really want is a beer, a couch, maybe silly light conversation. |
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| Danglesteak TWO |
[Mar. 15th, 2006|01:09 am] |
This Saturday was the second edition of Danglesteak. It was one of those days I will always remember. I'm still drunk off the good feelings. My best friend katie came up from Columbus with her husband, and then Pete and Nicole were there too. We all planned together and went to the farmers market. It's really the best possible thing to do on a random saturday afternoon. And I'm starting to get to know the people who work there. I bought the most beautiful salmon from Katie of "Katie's Fish." I asked if I could leave it there while I shopped and she said of course, she'd remember me by my curls. We were thinking beef, but couldn't find any fillets - but Nicole and Pete found some bison fillets, which I was very excited about. The plan was to do small portions of salmon and bison, kinda like surf and turf. That gave us a backup because I don't have an oven, and I didn't know if the bison would work in a toaster oven.
It all came together wonderfully. Because we were all in on the planning, I had a lot less to do and worry about. I could talk and relax while I chped and preped. We had the usual cheeses and sausage, followed by a tomato basil mozzarella salad. Finally, Pete pan seared the bison and we wrapped them in bacon and stuck them in the toaster oven. It took longer than expected but that little thing came through. Katie whipped up a bearnaise sauce (that I regrettably described to her as popcorn butter) and we set it alltogether on fresh toasted baguette. Then we had the salmon in a bruchetta type mix of tomatoes and olives (but not before I tried a piece raw)To my complete surprise I gently cried throughout the whole meal. It was the best food, the best company. Real tears of happiness. I don't think I've ever had those before. We finished with fresh berries in a champagne sabyon sauce, and then giggled the night away drinking the rest of the champagne. Pure madness of the best kind.
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| (no subject) |
[Mar. 8th, 2006|10:44 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| |  furious at nothing | ] |
| [ | music |
| | A Perfect Circle | ] |
ok, so I didn't post this over the weekend because I worry about my lj reputation. Isn't that silly. I thought to myself if I post one more 'injured alex' post, they're gonna get sick of me and run away. But this post is me caving in to the need to vent, so if that's not for you, please please skip this. I'll feel better of it if you do. And however much I love pity emails, If you feel compelled, I ask instead that you make a small donation to Doctors w/o Borders, or come and visit :)
With that said, FUCK! this Sucks. So that girl with the Lion's main of hair that I danced with on Friday, I know I said I couldn't walk straight afterwards, but I wasn't kidding. We were grinding really low when she grabbed me kinda funny, and a searing pain eminated from my right thigh. I've never quite felt anything like it. But I was drunk and I could still walk afterwards, so I didn't think much of it. Saturday I had a limp. SUNDAY, I woke up and my right thigh was half as big over again as my left, and there was this HUGE BRUISE stretching from groin to knee cap. So I kinda freaked out and went to the doctor on Monday. She took a good look at it and said 'yep, you really messed it up. Take some Tylenol." At the time, I thought, ok, good: I'm not bleeding to death inside. But it's just gotten worse since then. Every time I move my leg, I rediscover a new obsenity long lost since childhood. 'Fuckers' is in heavy circulation. However I'm also frequenting 'Shit Shit Shit" and my new favorite that I just found: "Fuck Cakes." That one, I'm mildly proud of. |
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| green snot, and what it means |
[Feb. 2nd, 2006|08:10 pm] |
Good day.
But I'm getting a cold again, just as my New York cold was exiting. I simply can't go through that again, so I decided to make a doctor's apointment now, instead of later. To my delight, there was an opeining today, so
I went to the doctor and found out many facinating things:
Green snot - all it means is that your white blood cell count is up, ie, your body is fighting something. They used to think it meant you had a bacterial infection as well as a cold, but now that's out the window.
Drink lots of water and get a humidifier (knew that)
There is a free clinic right next to my school that tests for all kinds of worrysome things, for 'free' of course. Thx RedRhodes, for the LJ push on that one.
I need glasses!!! I know I've been saying I want them, but that was more of a style mark than anything else. Now, I'm gonna be stuck with em for the rest of my life. I have noticed it's been harder for me to read things as of late. But it was a real shock to fail that eye chart test. It turns out it's only my left eye that is muffed up. The right one has been working overtime to make up for it. That's why I don't notice it all the time. |
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| update |
[Feb. 1st, 2006|03:04 pm] |
| [ | Tags | | | cats | ] |
| [ | mood |
| | better | ] |
| [ | music |
| | Air - 10,000 Hz Legend | ] |
Cat related wounds are healing. The offhending creature jumped up on my lap the next morning, and I forgot I was mad at him. Curses. |
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| cats, pee and blood |
[Jan. 27th, 2006|03:28 pm] |
| [ | Tags | | | cats | ] |
| [ | mood |
| | drained | ] |
| [ | music |
| | White Stripes - elephant | ] |
Despite the miserable nature of this story, I got a good laugh out of it this morning:
Last night was poker night. I definitely lost, which doesn’t happen often. I still had a good time, and enjoyed talking to people while they played. But since I wasn’t playing much of the night, I had a fair amount to drink. I was fine, socially. It was when I got home that things got a little crazy.
I took off my things and flopped on my bed, content to fall asleep in short order. But wait, what was that acidic smell? And why was my back wet? It could only be one thing, and I knew it immediately. My cat had peed on the bed. This has happened once before, but luckily it was on the blanket, and I washed it pretty easily. The first time also happened in the afternoon, when I had all my faculties about myself to deal with it. This time, it was on the sheets, and it had soaked right through to the mattress!
I was furious. Furious Furious Furious. I grabbed him by the scruff and dragged him into the bedroom to push his nose into the offending stain. I know that some people question the value of doing this to your pets. But really, this was for me. I just can’t live like this, and I’m not about to get rid of him, so all I can do is get angry. After he squirmed away, I swatted him on the butt. But I was still mad, so I chased him around the apartment terrifying him like a giant snarling bear. When he hid under the couch, I flipped it over and roared at him again. It was primal.
Eventually, there was nowhere left for him to hide in the family room. So he ran back into the bedroom and hid under the bed in the back corner. So I started pushing the plastic crates under my bed in and out to startle him out of there. One of them was hard plastic, and that one, I punched more than pushed. It shattered and cut me pretty deeply in several spots along my hand and arm. I had so much adrenalin in my system, it took me a moment to notice the blood, a good deal of it streaming down my arm and onto the sheets.
It was at that moment that I realized the terrible absurdity of my situation. I still had a pee-filled bed. Now it was a pee-filled, bloodstained bed. And now I had myself to blame too. And how was I ever going to get those sheets off and cleaned with just my left hand?!
So I collected myself. I eventually wrapped my hand in paper towels and set about removing the sheets. It probably took fifteen minutes, but I got them in the wash. I put cat-pee remover on the mattress in the offending spot. I still got several bloodstains on the bed in the process. The bed was still wet, so I couldn’t put fresh sheets on it. The couch was upside down and in pieces. So I wrapped myself in a fresh bottom sheet and fell asleep in the dry corner of the bed, my bloddy arm dangling out to rest over the paper towels.
I woke up from the pain in my arm a few times. But to my great surprise, otherwise I slept like a baby, with the elastic in the bottom sheet keeping me wrapped up. I had a lot of anger to get out. Pushing it to the point of absurdity was somehow good, at least cathardic. My cat is fine; I’m ok; I don’t need any stitches. My apartment is still in complete disarray, but that’s ok too. |
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| music to my ears |
[Jan. 25th, 2006|10:55 pm] |
| [ | Tags | | | low, nin, rave | ] |
| [ | mood |
| | chipper | ] |
| [ | music |
| | of course: Low, NIN | ] |
I haven't been this busy outside of exam weeks in a very long time. Yikes, it could be like this all semester!
But I'm happy. I'm going to see Low this Saturday, and my pal Gil is getting me in for free! And I found at least two people who are also Low fans to go with, not easy in this town.
And I've always wanted to go to a Nine Inch Nails concert. I've longed to go to one since I was a freshman in high school and he had this legendary concert in Columbus that my friends went to where he incited the crowd to rip out a thousand seats to make a mosh pit. They did. And he had to pay some huge fine, almost went to jail for starting a riot. I know what some of you are thinking, not sweet ol Alex, not industrial rock. Well indeed, I have many colors, and one of them is blackish gray. And it's just really good music. Anyways, once again I missed a NIN concert in December, sold out before my very eyes. At that point, I was considering driving eight hours to Philly to see them. But just this morning I was perusing myspace (I'm doing that drug too, now) and I randomly saw in someone's comments how they just got tickets to a NIN concert. So I checked, and sure enough they extended their tour and are coming back through Ohio. And there were still coveted floor tix left! So I snagged three right away, and proceeded to pinch myself for the next hour in disbelief. I'm almost ashamed of how excited I am. Almost.
In other news, went to my first rave this past Saturday. It was fun. I think we were the oldest people there. The music was often good, and I had no inhibitions dancing without a sip of alcohol. The glow stick dancing was fun, albeit cliché. And I got to wear neon army pants and red hair. Yes, red hair. I like to think I was a badass. I swear, I'm not regressing. Ok, maybe a wee bit. |
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| City of God |
[Jan. 3rd, 2006|12:55 am] |
| [ | mood |
| |  awake | ] |
So I don't know what this journal will be to me. During periods of my life, I've kept a journal for myself. I’m going to try to pretend no one reads this and see how that goes.
Just got back from New York. I feel more at home there than anywhere else in the world. Which is strange, because every time I go there, I have a completely different experience. This time, I would describe it as blue, with lots of vodka, too much second hand smoke, sleeping in a forced fetal position inside a beanbag, and drinking to get rid of a hangover. Which all sounds perfectly miserable - and it can only be a testament to that great city that it was, in fact, fabulous.
And maybe I’ll leave it at that for now. lunatopaz makes a killer cup of licorice tea. Even if it was only for an hour, it was great to see her. It helped me find my center again after this crazy weekend. And I’m terribly excited about being in her and Paul’s movie. I wish I had asked to see the video Paul took. I have no idea how I carry myself on screen, but I suspect it’s very different from how I see myself. Since then I’ve thought of all different kinds of directions the interview could have gone, but didn’t. It’s also got me thinking because I’ve been toying with the idea of filming interviews with everyone in my extended family. There are these deep trends from both my mom and dad’s sides that come together in me and my brothers, but I can’t say exactly what they are. It would be neat to try.
Threads I will pick up later:
-New years debauchery
-/snip/
-Resolutions?
-Metropolitan on a Sunday
Happy holidays everybody! |
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