Summer is a beautiful thing

Happy 4th of July! I'm celebrating by watching Wimbledon (as I've done every year since the summer of 2001) and chilling. I think I'll go to Starbucks later and do some work for a bit.

So I finished my second year of grad school, and I'm still alive, so I guess that counts as success! I'm set to take my comprehensive exam in October. I've gotten my committee together, but haven't quite set a date yet. Right now I'm working on getting a paper out - I promised my advisor a draft by the middle of the month, so I've got to keep rolling on that. So, that part of my life is going okay. I'm not feeling particularly motivated right now, but I guess we all have ups and downs. I'm done with classes, though, so that is a very freeing feeling, let me tell you!

I'm training for a half-marathon, if you can believe it! It's going to be in Chicago in September. I have to go run today, actually, but only 3 miles, so that shouldn't be difficult. I'm really looking forward to seeing LJ, though, as I haven't seen her in 2 years! Actually, she's coming out here in a couple of weeks, which is frickin' awesome.

My parents are moving to FL next month - super excited for them. Ah, retirement! I'll be going down to help them out.

I've been thinking about starting a new blog - kind of a weight loss + exercise + diabetes thing. Mostly for my own benefit, but if others get anything out of it, that would be cool.

I guess that's it for the first half of 2013. Not much else going on with me right now. Doing some dating, nothing serious. I'm pleased with my diabetes care right now (I got a CGM), and my last A1c was 5.8%. Yeah, I think that's it. Mwah!

Another post for 2012

So, I figured I'd get in another post before the year is out - which is incredibly soon! Riding high on the election results. My fiscal views may be a little left of center, but socially, I'm about as liberal as you get, so I see last night as a big win. Now, I just hope the folks in Washington can stop us from heading over the fiscal cliff. If for no other reason (and there are a great many other reasons) than that funding for science and research will suffer hardcore.

I'm almost halfway through my second year of grad school. It's been a bumpy ride this year. The spring semester was uber tough. My summer was pretty shitty, for mostly non-school related reasons. Was sort of seeing a guy who turned out to be a douche. Anyway, this semester has been up and down. Right now I'm feeling okay about things, but we'll see as the end looms closer. I'm toying with the idea of applying for some jobs when I get done with the Master's degree section of my Ph.D., just to see how it goes. I know I don't want to stay in academia, so it sort of makes me wonder if maybe I'd be happier just getting out now. I don't know, I haven't reached any conclusions on that front. We'll see how the rest of this year goes. I did pass my candidacy exam in August, which was the first big hoop to jump through in the grand scheme of graduate school hoops. Next will be my comprehensive exam, which I'll probably take maybe a year from now. Or maybe in August if I have a really productive summer! (N.B. The previous statements was tinged with sarcasm.)

I've started seeing a guy recently. I like him a lot. It's in it's very early stages, but I'm looking forward to seeing where it goes.

Let's see - is there anything else to report? Not that I can think of...

Edit (a day later): Oh! And I've been on my insulin pump since March! Best decision I've ever made, no holds barred. My HbA1C is better than when on shots, even when I feel like my control has been iffy.

Hallo! Did you know that sometimes I still check this blog? Hard to believe, I know. I'm only sorry I missed posting in 2011, even once. In any case, I figured I'd jump on here and give you all an update.

Let's see... I finally finished my degree. I officially have a BS in Engineering Physics with minors in Astronomy and Classical Civilizations from UIUC! Woot! Graduated with High Honors. So, that was in May. I spent the summer doing nothing. However, in June I got motivated to lose some weight, and so far I've lost 20 lbs. It got rocky over the holidays, but I'm ready to hop back in the game. I spent some time this spring visiting grad schools I'd been accepted to, and it came down to choosing between UC Davis and Penn State. I chose Penn State, and I've just finished my first semester of grad school there - all A's! Anyway, I've been spending the break in Florida with my sister and other family. I'm heading home today, actually. I miss my kitty! He's been being visited by the pet sitter every other day, but I want him to know I haven't abandoned him. I look forward to seeing him. Next semester starts in a week. I'm looking forward to getting back into the routine, although I'm worried about these classes being tougher. Oh, and I won the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship! Really big accomplishment, I'm not going to lie. I wrote my research proposal based on the solar physics I did in Montana, which was the last thing I posted about, I think. Anyway, so I'm supported (pretty well) for three years of grad school. I'm looking at doing some astrobiology research for an initial project. Anyway, that's my last 18 months in a nutshell! Whew!

I wish everyone a very happy new year.

Hullo from MT

I've been settled here in Montana for a week, now, and I'm really enjoying it. The weather hasn't been the greatest - a lot of rain, unfortunately, but we've found time to do a hike and play some volleyball in between showers. The people that I'm working with are all really cool. There's Graham from Scotland, Margot from Massachusetts, Dustin from Maine, Nate from New York, Ian from Montana, and Cameron from Ohio. Last night a few of us went out to downtown Bozeman and checked out a few of the bars - we had a great time. I'm very glad I drove, as my car has been a huge asset. Yesterday, I went with Nate to I think four different pawn shops... that was hilarious. I think I'm going to go back and get a chair that was comfy. Ha.

So far, my research has been pretty simple. My advisor has been out of town since last Thursday, so I'm a bit adrift today. My "secondary" advisor, I guess you could call him, has not yet shown up this morning, so my couple of questions cannot be answered. Anyway, I'm kind of bored right now, which is why I'm blogging.

Tomorrow, we start our series of solar physics lectures, done by people both from this department and other places. I look forward to learning more about the sun and how it works. I'll be going to Yellowstone sometime next month with some other people and the area's astronomy club, so that will be a fun experience. Anyway, that's about it for now.

New Post

Hey, folks! Well, the semester is drawing to a close (a fact that I'm quite excited about) and I haven't written anything in a while, so here I am.

First of all, I have had the honor of being chosen as the winner of the Laura B. Eisenstein Award for the outstanding undergraduate female physics major. Very exciting! I mean, I know that I'm keeping my head above water, but I didn't realize that I was actually being "outstanding" or anything. These things are decided by committee, and I didn't even know that people in the department even knew who I was! But anyway, I get to go to a little lunch with other award winners, so that's cool. Also, it will look great on my CV and grad school applications!

I got an REU at Montana State University this summer, where I will be studying solar physics. It's in Bozeman, which I guess is not that far from like, Yellowstone and Glacier National Park, so I'm expecting to have fun and learn a lot! I'll be there from late May to mid-August. And they're paying me, so I can't complain.

I was informed by the physics department that they chose me as their nominee for the UIUC Women in Engineering Kirkwood Scholarship, a fact by which I felt very honored. I don't know what my competition is for it, but considering that you have to be nominated by your department to be considered for it, it's probably not too bad. I'm not getting my hopes up for actually winning, but I was happy just to be nominated. I guess it makes me feel like people are noticing what I'm doing, so... that's cool.

Well, I think that's it for now. Finals are in about three weeks, and once those are finished, my sister and Nathan and Mom and Dad and Aunt Barbara will all be in town for graduation weekend. Jennifer is coming back to get hooded for her Ph.D., even though she was really done last August, so it will be full of fun and celebration! Then a couple of weeks before I head out to Montana. I'm driving, and it's doable in two days, but I'm thinking I'm going to take three so I can detour through the Badlands and Mount Rushmore. Anyway, so... that's all folks!

I forgot I had a blog, ha!

I was reminded last night that I actually have a blog, and that people might stop by every now and then, so I thought I'd post something. Uh... yeah.

I guess I've got a pretty busy weekend coming up - gallery opening on Friday evening, party Friday night, baby shower Saturday morning, driving to Chicago Saturday afternoon, dinner with LJ Saturday evening, karaoke-ing Saturday night, Super Bowl on Sunday. Whew!

Anyway. Blegh.

Hi ho, hi ho

School starts on Monday - here we go again! I like school. I've just been twiddling my thumbs since getting back from my trip to the Cape, so it'll be nice to have a renewed sense of purpose, if you will.

I have a new roommate - so far it's going well. I'm thinking about doing karaoke tonight. Depends. I don't want to go without someone else, but I don't know who will come with me. Maybe Laura Jane will go.

Bye.

My summer's resolutions

I don't really have any summer's resolutions.

School is going well. My first four week class is over, that was fine. I don't think I ever want to look at another Greek vase, but other than that... CS 101 is pretty easy so far - we're just doing Matlab, which is like a glorified TI-89. Astronomy research is interesting. Nothing too difficult, but I hope I'm helping.

I'm thinking about going to Cape Cod for 10 days or so in August. We'll see if I can save enough money - even the cheapest motels are expensive. But I really need to get the hell outta Dodge, as it were, before jumping in for the fall semester. So, hopefully that will work out.

I've been trying to work out more frequently. I mean, I'm not losing any weight or anything, 'cause I haven't really changed my diet, but I certainly feel better for doing it, so that's good. Yay, endorphines!

Anyway, right now things are pretty laid back. Met a nice/hot guy on Wednesday night. I think I might see him again on Wednesday, but I won't be disappointed if he doesn't show - I'm getting a little inured to that kind of thing these days. But I would be pleasantly surprised if I were to see him again.

That's it, I guess.

Summertime, and the living is... well, I wouldn't say easy necessarily

So, here I am, sitting outside at Pekara, enjoying the warm weather outside, sort of doing homework, sort of gawking at someone I know three patios over. Summer is going well. My class is okay, although not particularly scintillating. I'll be excited when it's over. Otherwise, I'm just killing time.

Well, I don't really have anything to say. Sorry, I'm kind of boring tonight, probably shouldn't have even attempted a blog. Boo.

Wah wah wah...

So, I had a hankering to write about myself some more, so here I am. Can hardly believe that I lasted so long.

My semester ended well - all A's, which I wasn't necessarily expecting an A in PHYS 326, but I got one, so hurrah! Right now I'm at Aroma, pseudo-studying. I watched the first season of True Blood, by the way, which I liked. That was a complete aside. I'm taking a four week class right now - CLCV 217, Greek Art and Architecture. It's a lot, and gets boring after three hours a day, but I'm surviving, so that's a plus. Later I'll also be taking CS 101. And I'm also doing some astronomy research this summer, which is cool, especially since I get paid. We're basically studying spectral data from massive young stellar objects (YSO) from the Large Magellanic Cloud. Mostly I'll be concentrating on the ices. So, I'm excited to actually be doing some hands-on stuff. Next semester, I'll be taking CLCV 221, The Heroic Tradition, ASTR 404, Stellar Astrophysics, PHYS 436, Electromagnetism II, PHYS 486, Quantum I, and CLCV 490, Topic in Classical Civ. I'm not going to busy or anything. But seriously, if I have to drop one, that'll be okay. It would either be the CLCV 490 or the astronomy class. We'll see.

Er... I'm kind of bored with this now. I think I'm going to go the library and see if they have any books I haven't read yet. I doubt it, but one can always hope...

Welcome to my 259th post on this blog

Isn't that crazy? I've been blogging a long time it feels like. I'm currently listening to a song called "Angels on the Moon" by Thriving Ivory. The dude has the strangest voice, but it kind of grows on you.

I'm procrastinating, surprise, surprise. I've got three exams this week. The first one is ET on Thursday. I'm really not that worried about that one. The second one is E&M on Friday morning. That one I'm not sure if I should be worried or not. It's just that I can't decide if I know everything or not. I mean, it's open note, book, and whatever, and the practice exam was fairly easy, but I know how I am and I can just see myself sitting down to take the exam and choking or something. The last exam is CLCV 116, an hour after E&M. I'm not sure about that one either. I mean, it's multiple choice, but we're talking 70 questions in fifty minutes, which doesn't leave a lot of time for thinking. And I just don't really know what to expect. I also have a four page paper for the class due next Tuesday, but I've relieved myself of the burden of thinking about that until this weekend, so that's cool.

One of my new favorite songs is "Heartless" by Kanye West.

Today I dressed up for no apparent reason. I mostly just wanted to wear these shoes that I bought a while ago and have never worn. They're pretty comfortable, for high heels, anyway. I'm sitting in Aroma trying to get my stuff together to actually study. I've discovered that I'm sort of become one of those squeeze-your-eyes-shut-and-hope-you-don't-crash kind of exam takers. It's just - things don't stay in my brain that long these days. Anyway, that's all I've got.

Hurray!

So, I dropped Spanish 104 like it was hot, man! I mean, after going to one class, I know I could have survived it, but talk about an unnecessary outlet of brain power. Anyway, I'm officially switching to Engineering Physics, 'cause I don't have to take that fourth semester of a foreign language. Looks like I probably won't be going to Cyprus this summer 'cause there's just no way I can afford it. Bummer, but I got over it. Anyway, school is going fine so far, so yay.

In other news,... well, I guess I don't really have other news. How sad is that. Not much happens to me, I guess. Oh, actually, I did get elected treasurer of Women in Physics, so that's kind of cool. I mean, it doesn't appear that I actually have to do that much, but it's something. I'm going down to campus in a couple of hours to study E&M with Steve. I haven't actually looked at it yet, but hopefully it's doable. I spent hours... and I do mean hours on PHYS 326 homework this week, which is just aggravating. I mean, it's fine, but that soon out of the gate, it's a little disheartening. However, I know that I'll get to the end of this semester and be like, that went by fast and wasn't too bad. That's pretty much my general response to life - it goes by fast and wasn't that bad. How's that for optimism?

Anyway, I have to work tonight 5 to 11 PM. That's cool since I only work one shift a week these days, so it's always nice to see people and kind of do something different for a little while. Besides, who doesn't want to be surrounded by books and movies and music and coffee? Some of my favorite things in life are on that list.

Well, I think I've pretty much exhausted everything I had to say, not that it was that much to begin with. However, I have been imbued with the special ability to spout nonsense and make it sound good.

Sayonara.

*big sigh*

Well, another semester is underway. In a way, I'm excited because it means I'll have something to keep me busy. On the other hand, however, I'm bummed I will no longer be able to sit around doing nothing for hours on end. On that note, I drove to Decatur last night to get a bookshelf at their Target since ours didn't have the color I wanted. I set it up and reorganized all my books, and it looks very nice, if I do say so myself. Anyway, so that was my fun thing for the long weekend.

I guess we have a new president. Go, Obama! Fix that nation, etc.

I had my first class this morning at 10 AM, and that was interesting. It was ASTR 330, Extraterrestrial Life. The professor is a total goon - all loud, telling unfunny jokes, jumping around and such. I think the class is going to be pretty easy, honestly. My second class is in about 45 minutes. It's CLCV 116, The Roman Achievement. I don't know how that is going to be - I'm hoping easy and interesting, but we'll see about the interesting part. That's all I have today, but tomorrow I have PHYs 435 and 326, which are going to be a ball and a half. Also, starting next week, I'll have my Spanish 104 class Tuesday and Thursday evenings. I'm sort of nervous about that since it's been about 2 years since I took 103.

Well, gotta run.

Almost an entire semester later...

Sorry it's been a while, I know I've got such rabid fans and such like. I'm currently sitting at Aroma, studying for my Physics 419 final, but I don't really know what to study since the final is basically going to consist of three essays. Grr... Oh well, I think I've done all I can. I'm good a bull shitting if it becomes necessary.

Final tonight at 7, and then one tomorrow morning at 8, and them I'm home free for this semester! I can't express how amazing that will be. My worst finals were both on Friday, so those are done. Thank God. I'm really curious to see how I fared on them. The physics 325 one actually went better than I was expecting. I mean, I don't think I got an A on it, but I'm pretty sure I passed, which is a good thing. That astronomy one was a bit of a travesty, but I know that we were all in the same boat on that one, so yay. Anyway, I'm just ready to be done with these exams.

So, as I stated previously, I'm sitting in Aroma, thinking about changing gears and doing some linear algebra. I'm not too worried about that one, although I should study just a tad more, only because if I do well on the final I could potentially get an A in the class, which would be greatly appreciated. Anyway, speaking of which, I should probably go do that.

Sayonara.

Hola

Well, I thought I'd stop by again after Janelle's reminder in her last comment that I hadn't written anything for a while. Let's see... school started three weeks ago, although honestly, it feels like three months. It's pretty intense when you mix the learning curve, social adjustments, homework differences, generally harder classes... I think I'm getting into a groove, though, so that's good. I wouldn't be surprised if it takes all semester before I'm really adjusted. I've joined a group called the Society for Women in Physics, which is cool mainly for just meeting other people in the department, etc. I've found some people to study with, which is of paramount importance for doing the homework for PHYS 325, which is a mechanics and relativity class. Anyway, lots of differential equations to solve functions of motion and such. It's difficult, but once you realize where you have to go, it's not so hard get from point A to point B.

It is a little disturbing how much I'm not sure that I really want to do physics for the rest of my life. I mean, I think it's probably just that I've got a lot on my plate and am not yet very comfortable with the whole new deal. Whatever. Anyway, so I'm hopefully meeting with a professor under whom I can do some research next summer. He's basically a theoretical cosmologist, which is what I hope to get into. We'll see how it goes.

The remnants of Hurricane Ike just swept through the area. It rained all night and into the afternoon today. I was going to go to the gym this morning, but I can't even drive out of my garage because the streets are flooded. My backyard is half underwater. Oh well. I think most of the rain has passed now.

Waiting to get ready

So, Amy (my ex-roommate) is getting married today, so yay for her! I'm thinking about getting ready, but if I get ready too early, then I'll have to sit around all dressed up, and frankly, I'd rather sit around in PJs. Anyway, so that's about it.

I also remember that Josiah and Joy got married, so yay for them! I was looking at pictures on Phanfare, and they looked pretty nifty. I'm only sorry I couldn't make it. Oh well.

Well, that's about all I've got, so I think I'll take off then.

Big fan of procrastination

I mean, if there's nothing else to be done besides studying, at least I can always blog, right? But seriously, I have an essay to write and a physics final to study for, both of which are somewhere near the bottom of the list of things I'd like to be doing right now. But hey, at least this time tomorrow, they'll be done, right? And I'll be contemplating getting drunk. After all, that'll be it for me at Parkland. Bit of a landmark for me, really.

The avocados in my chicken wrap are slippery little buggers, aren't they?

Anyway, first order of business is this literature essay. I think I'm going to write about Ray Bradbury's "August 2026," but I'm not sure yet. Something about the voice of the author. Well, better get to it.

All homework, all the time

I've spent a good portion of my weekend doing homework. Did my literature midterm, which wasn't that bad except for the fact that I wasn't feeling particularly inspired. Oh well, happens sometimes. At least it's done. I have a physics exam on Tuesday. It's really up in the air as to how well I'm going to do. I don't know, I mean, sometimes I get it, sometimes I don't. Especially optics. Screw sign conventions, that's what I say.

The exciting thing is that I think I'm going to get out of Parkland with a 4.0, which is kinda neat. Actually, I'm pretty proud of the fact.

I've been doing a little private tutoring for speech. It's actually a little exhausting. It's not coaching the delivery, it's the speech writing, which is annoying only because I feel like I'm doing a lot of the work, but I try to get her to get into it. Anyway, I'm doing that later this afternoon, right before I go to work. I think I'll go to the library in the mean time. I should probably study more physics, but my brain doesn't really appreciate that idea.

Last night I went to a musical. It's called "The Last Five Years." It was really good, I thought. It's a modern musical, with just two characters. I thought it was pretty thought-provoking.

I recently downloaded a song by Jason Mraz called "I'm Yours." It's his new single. I really like it. I also downloaded Coldplay's new single, and a song by Ryan Adams called "Come Pick Me Up." Good songs, all of them.

Hard to believe that I start at the U of I next month. Just one month! Crazy. I have no concept of how different it will make my life, I just know that it freaks me out a little. You know, I have a niche at Parkland, and I'm very comfortable there. It's difficult to imagine anything else. Ah well, should be good, in any case. Anyway, I'm trying to decide if I want to quit at Barnes and Noble and do the federal work study. It seems to me that it would make more sense, at least as far as taxes go, but I'm really loathe to finish there. Maybe I can still stay on for the Sunday night shift or something. We'll see. Maybe it would be good for me to make the break complete, new school, new job, you know? Scary shit.

Alrighty, well, my arm is tired, so I'm off.

I've got a minute or two

Well, things are progressing as usual, which is pretty good, I guess. Summer classes started last week, which is nice because I was going crazy with boredom. I mean, it was nice to not have to do anything for a while, but as usual, it was getting old. So, Physics 143 is fine. The pace is crazy. Literature 127 is nice, too, although truthfully I'm not a big fan of the short story.

Oh, gotta run. Sorry.

Dramatic Music on the Weather Channel

The worse the weather is, the more melodramatic the music. It's like watching a movie.

Well, here I am again. I just watched a strange little movie called "Hannah Takes the Stairs." I've yet to figure out exactly what the the point of the film was, but it was mildly entertaining, nonetheless. Another interesting film I saw recently was "Dedication." I think I liked it. Another one of those that it was difficult to say...

I think my cat thinks I'm boring.

Well, it's been a while since I posted last. Let's see... I passed all my classes. Got all A's, yay. I've registered for classes this fall at the U of I. I'm a little nervous because I've been hearing horror stories about classes/professors. I had a small panic about it actually. Funny that for as much as I've accomplished (not that much), I'm still desperately afraid of failure. I'm also uncomfortable with the fact that people that I know who are younger than me have already done useful things with their lives, and mine has been a morass of selfish un-doing-of-useful-things. Oh well.

It's true, though, you know. I sit here at home thinking that I should whiten my teeth, and while I'm all caught up in my own consequence, other people are out saving starving children in Africa. Well, we can't all be goddamn saints.

Well, I think I'm going to go to bed now.