I want to see all of you, and I really hope you come to the housewarming (starting at 9pm, see older post for directions). Even George W. is coming, in the flesh.
I was also recently sheared (this afternoon), so if nothing else come see me with my hair cut short(er), which only happens 2 to 3 times a year. And please carpool.
I am in a really relaxed mood, as getting into the mountains for climbing and camping with family and friends these last few days was exactly what I needed. Donner lake and Big Bear lake were really beautiful, and climbing on granite was amazing. Nothing like 7000' of altitude, crystal clear waters, and lots of 3 year olds running around causing me to think about my own (future) family to ground me. I am so excited about family. Now if I only knew what I wanted to do with my own life on a day to day basis.
An interesting footnote: country music stations were named the Cat, the Wolf, the Hawk, and the Fox. Those cowboys love their animals. I know lots of top 40 country music songs now.
Saturday, July 14, 2007
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
I owe an update...
The last few days have been interesting. I've seen some old friends, made some new once, made a fool out of my self, starting taking french again, and really thinking a lot about next year. However it plays out, I can't wait.
The biggest influence on my life, however, has been a strange death that my family has been dealing with. The man that my mom was dating six months before she met my dad (and a year before she was marrying him) passed away in a plane crash that I found out about while I was watching ESPN (obit here). She hadn't seen him in about twenty five years, but the fact that she's so broken up about it--and the fact that she has gotten five or six phone calls from the crew that she hung out with when he was in dental school and she was working in Boston--has really made me think about the lives we live now and how truly connected we are with our future selves. I suppose I see myself in twenty years and I really don't know what I'm going to be like or where I'm going to be, but I just hope that wherever I am (assuming I make it), I at least get the chance to cross paths with everyone who's meant something to me as often as possible. My mom has been lamenting all day that she always thought that some day their paths would cross again (apparently he was a terrific guy but "not husband material") and that she can't believe he's gone.
On a lighter note (in more ways than one), I saw some pictures of my mom with him today, and when she was 24, she apparently wore similar dresses and hairstyles to what Caroline wears. It was weird. I'll scan the photo if I can find a scanner.
The biggest influence on my life, however, has been a strange death that my family has been dealing with. The man that my mom was dating six months before she met my dad (and a year before she was marrying him) passed away in a plane crash that I found out about while I was watching ESPN (obit here). She hadn't seen him in about twenty five years, but the fact that she's so broken up about it--and the fact that she has gotten five or six phone calls from the crew that she hung out with when he was in dental school and she was working in Boston--has really made me think about the lives we live now and how truly connected we are with our future selves. I suppose I see myself in twenty years and I really don't know what I'm going to be like or where I'm going to be, but I just hope that wherever I am (assuming I make it), I at least get the chance to cross paths with everyone who's meant something to me as often as possible. My mom has been lamenting all day that she always thought that some day their paths would cross again (apparently he was a terrific guy but "not husband material") and that she can't believe he's gone.
On a lighter note (in more ways than one), I saw some pictures of my mom with him today, and when she was 24, she apparently wore similar dresses and hairstyles to what Caroline wears. It was weird. I'll scan the photo if I can find a scanner.
Life in Ithaca
So I suppose I owe an update...
Life in Ithaca is good. Work has finally picked up. We're working on this project for the local art museum that takes previous visitors' comments about an exhibit and displays them on this big screen for future visitors. We'll eventually study what effect seeing previous museumgoers' thoughts has on one's museum experience. So its half really boring: sitting next to an exhibit and asking people to write down words they associate with the object. The other half is thinking of the most engaging visual display for the words, which is the part I really like. Its challenging both from a programming point of view but also from a graphic design point of view. Its lots of fun, and is great experience for the future.
Ive started studying for the GREs, in preparation for applying to the co-term program in Symbolic Systems. Its really boring and tedious. It's just a harder version of the SATs, something I had hoped to never deal with again. It's especially frustrating because the professor who judges my application is someone I know fairly well and have taken a 4-person class with, not to mention the 50 page honors thesis I will turn in with the app. The idea that my performance on 30 analogies will make one lick of difference is absurd. So I plan on putting in a bit of mediocre studying and calling it a day.
And in the most exciting piece of news, I've started a bit of a summer romance. (I can see all of you were scanning suddenly pay really close attention). Yeah, she's really great: her name is Golf, and I'm pretty sure I'm in love. We've flirted on and off for a few years, but this summer I decided to take our relationship to the next level and get serious. Though I'm still pretty awkward and bad (ohh, the parallels to real relationships), it's still so much fun. She's pretty much all I think about, and I do her at least 2 or 3 times a week. My best friend growing up also fell in love with her at the same time, so we do her together (again, the parallels to real relationships). Sadly, she's a very expensive girlfriend, and I can already see myself spending inordinate amounts of money on her. Its ok though, she's worth it.
That said, I want to try and play a weekly game once I get back to school. Anyone interested? Sam, I'm looking at you...
Life in Ithaca is good. Work has finally picked up. We're working on this project for the local art museum that takes previous visitors' comments about an exhibit and displays them on this big screen for future visitors. We'll eventually study what effect seeing previous museumgoers' thoughts has on one's museum experience. So its half really boring: sitting next to an exhibit and asking people to write down words they associate with the object. The other half is thinking of the most engaging visual display for the words, which is the part I really like. Its challenging both from a programming point of view but also from a graphic design point of view. Its lots of fun, and is great experience for the future.
Ive started studying for the GREs, in preparation for applying to the co-term program in Symbolic Systems. Its really boring and tedious. It's just a harder version of the SATs, something I had hoped to never deal with again. It's especially frustrating because the professor who judges my application is someone I know fairly well and have taken a 4-person class with, not to mention the 50 page honors thesis I will turn in with the app. The idea that my performance on 30 analogies will make one lick of difference is absurd. So I plan on putting in a bit of mediocre studying and calling it a day.
And in the most exciting piece of news, I've started a bit of a summer romance. (I can see all of you were scanning suddenly pay really close attention). Yeah, she's really great: her name is Golf, and I'm pretty sure I'm in love. We've flirted on and off for a few years, but this summer I decided to take our relationship to the next level and get serious. Though I'm still pretty awkward and bad (ohh, the parallels to real relationships), it's still so much fun. She's pretty much all I think about, and I do her at least 2 or 3 times a week. My best friend growing up also fell in love with her at the same time, so we do her together (again, the parallels to real relationships). Sadly, she's a very expensive girlfriend, and I can already see myself spending inordinate amounts of money on her. Its ok though, she's worth it.
That said, I want to try and play a weekly game once I get back to school. Anyone interested? Sam, I'm looking at you...
The NL sucks
Except for the Brewers, which Steve caused me to realize is an awesome team.
And Harry Potter was a lot of fun. I found myself both oddly attracted to and scared by Bellatrix Lestrange, which frankly is not a bad combination.
Anyone else get out to see it last night?
And Harry Potter was a lot of fun. I found myself both oddly attracted to and scared by Bellatrix Lestrange, which frankly is not a bad combination.
Anyone else get out to see it last night?
Monday, July 09, 2007
Baseball and Housewarming
Hi Guys,
I owe you a lengthy update on how things were in Spain, pictures, etc, but all that will have to wait. While I continue to postpone that post however, I didn't want to neglect to let everyone know that I'm back in the bay area and want to see them! Haven't really had a moment to sort out pictures and the fun things that happened, but I'll be sure to do that. I also have big ass cuban cigars for a bunch of the guys, so we have to get together for those.
I'm back safely in Cali, moved into my house Friday and Satuday, and returned to lab today. I want to see everyone who's around! In that vein (go to the bolded events), the home run derby is today at 5pm and the All Star game is tomorrow at the same time. If any of you can make it out of lab/work by that hour I'd love to see if we could all get together. I already know that Lane Barrasso and I will be getting together to watch the games, most likely at the Old Pro, so please post, call, or email if you have any interest.
In addition, show up to the house warming party we'll be having Saturday night at 9pm. It's a PJ Party, and we're encouraging people to both drink and stay the night. I'll try to get facebook invites out, but I can't promise much. Here are the directions to 27950 Elena Road, Los Altos Hills, it's simple:
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=27950+Elena+Road%2C+Los+Altos+Hills%2C+CA
(make sure you copy the entire url into the address bar, I can't get it to work as a hyperlink)
Okay, really hope to pull you all away from your work and boredom so we can see each other! And Ani, please leave the SRC and come to these things. Do it for your well-being.
I owe you a lengthy update on how things were in Spain, pictures, etc, but all that will have to wait. While I continue to postpone that post however, I didn't want to neglect to let everyone know that I'm back in the bay area and want to see them! Haven't really had a moment to sort out pictures and the fun things that happened, but I'll be sure to do that. I also have big ass cuban cigars for a bunch of the guys, so we have to get together for those.
I'm back safely in Cali, moved into my house Friday and Satuday, and returned to lab today. I want to see everyone who's around! In that vein (go to the bolded events), the home run derby is today at 5pm and the All Star game is tomorrow at the same time. If any of you can make it out of lab/work by that hour I'd love to see if we could all get together. I already know that Lane Barrasso and I will be getting together to watch the games, most likely at the Old Pro, so please post, call, or email if you have any interest.
In addition, show up to the house warming party we'll be having Saturday night at 9pm. It's a PJ Party, and we're encouraging people to both drink and stay the night. I'll try to get facebook invites out, but I can't promise much. Here are the directions to 27950 Elena Road, Los Altos Hills, it's simple:
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=27950+Elena+Road%2C+Los+Altos+Hills%2C+CA
(make sure you copy the entire url into the address bar, I can't get it to work as a hyperlink)
Okay, really hope to pull you all away from your work and boredom so we can see each other! And Ani, please leave the SRC and come to these things. Do it for your well-being.
Prancing with the Stars
Oy, I can't believe I'm following Jenna's touching account of Camp Kesem with this one, but here goes...
Wow. What a whacky day/ night. So I guess this is the new-fangled “glamour” that they talk about. Today was the HP5 premiere (aka Harry Potter 5), and oh my-lanta. I was staffing it the whole time and didn’t even get to watch the movie, and I was basically on my now-blistered feet for the last 9 hours… but it was so sweet!
First, at the premiere itself, I walked along the red carpet lined with hundreds of screaming fans holding signs (I thought one sign said “Dan, blow me” – for Daniel Radcliffe, who plays Harry – but I realized it actually said “Dan, blow me a kiss” upon second glance), and pretended to be important. My first job was to take guests to their seats in the theater, including Antonio Sabato Jr. (so hot in real life), Seth Green (so short, but funny), and Jeff Foxworthy (quite friendly), among others whose faces I recognized but didn’t know their names. And I was like 5 feet away from Rick Fox (soooo hot) and AnnaSophia Robb (I don’t even know who that is, but people told me she was famous, in “The Reaping” or something).
And then there was the after-party, which was beautiful but such a ridiculous way to spend so much money. They had a huge 3D cake in the shape of Hogwarts, flat-screen TVs on the walls to look like the moving photographs in the Harry Potter stories, and a huge platform behind the bar that spit green fire every few minutes (to name just a few of the spectacles). I was responsible for guarding the VIP area, making sure that all the important people had everything they needed, and keeping out the “riff-raff.” I rubbed elbows with Emma Watson (pretty, but very petite), and yes, Harry Potter himself said hi to me (he’s so tiny!). Everyone who talked to him said he was funny and warm.
Perhaps the most noteworthy part of the evening was when I was talking to this British guy for a decent amount of time, explaining to him why he wasn’t allowed in the VIP area, asking if he liked the movie, and such. But when he said he was in LA just for the film, it well, hit me, and I said, “Wait, were you, uh, in this movie?” He cracked up, and told me that yes, in fact, he was one of the semi-leads in it (he played Cedric Diggory). Oops!! I was mortified. But he was drunk enough not to care, joked that he was barely in this one anyway, and we continued talking for a while after. I wonder if that was 100% insulting, or somewhat refreshing to him?
In addition to the celebrity factor of which I am bragging about so disgustingly, it was fun to talk to other WB people I hadn’t met yet, and even the security guards and waiters were cool. So overall, although it terrifies me to admit this, I really enjoyed myself.
Wow. What a whacky day/ night. So I guess this is the new-fangled “glamour” that they talk about. Today was the HP5 premiere (aka Harry Potter 5), and oh my-lanta. I was staffing it the whole time and didn’t even get to watch the movie, and I was basically on my now-blistered feet for the last 9 hours… but it was so sweet!
First, at the premiere itself, I walked along the red carpet lined with hundreds of screaming fans holding signs (I thought one sign said “Dan, blow me” – for Daniel Radcliffe, who plays Harry – but I realized it actually said “Dan, blow me a kiss” upon second glance), and pretended to be important. My first job was to take guests to their seats in the theater, including Antonio Sabato Jr. (so hot in real life), Seth Green (so short, but funny), and Jeff Foxworthy (quite friendly), among others whose faces I recognized but didn’t know their names. And I was like 5 feet away from Rick Fox (soooo hot) and AnnaSophia Robb (I don’t even know who that is, but people told me she was famous, in “The Reaping” or something).
And then there was the after-party, which was beautiful but such a ridiculous way to spend so much money. They had a huge 3D cake in the shape of Hogwarts, flat-screen TVs on the walls to look like the moving photographs in the Harry Potter stories, and a huge platform behind the bar that spit green fire every few minutes (to name just a few of the spectacles). I was responsible for guarding the VIP area, making sure that all the important people had everything they needed, and keeping out the “riff-raff.” I rubbed elbows with Emma Watson (pretty, but very petite), and yes, Harry Potter himself said hi to me (he’s so tiny!). Everyone who talked to him said he was funny and warm.
Perhaps the most noteworthy part of the evening was when I was talking to this British guy for a decent amount of time, explaining to him why he wasn’t allowed in the VIP area, asking if he liked the movie, and such. But when he said he was in LA just for the film, it well, hit me, and I said, “Wait, were you, uh, in this movie?” He cracked up, and told me that yes, in fact, he was one of the semi-leads in it (he played Cedric Diggory). Oops!! I was mortified. But he was drunk enough not to care, joked that he was barely in this one anyway, and we continued talking for a while after. I wonder if that was 100% insulting, or somewhat refreshing to him?
In addition to the celebrity factor of which I am bragging about so disgustingly, it was fun to talk to other WB people I hadn’t met yet, and even the security guards and waiters were cool. So overall, although it terrifies me to admit this, I really enjoyed myself.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
