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ThereAreThoseWhoCallMeTim
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State: Massachusetts
Gender: Male
Interests: Learning, Science, Being a Rockstar
Expertise: Neural Systems, Computer Nerd-dom, Piano, Bass, Guitar
Occupation: Student
Industry: Research
Message: message me
Member Since:
8/17/2006
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| I even managed to finish my first year of graduate school! I thought I would be invincible after graduating from Caltech, but my four term projects and finals at the end of the semester sure caught up to me. It was like I was a sophomore again, working from midnight to eight AM for two weeks straight and sleeping all day. But now it's summer, and I sleep eight hours a night and get up in the morning. Ah the wonders of 'real life'!
On the other hand, I'm my own boss for research and getting my thesis underway, and I have definitely not adequately disciplined myself! I'm trying to count the hours and at least fulfill my minimal obligations, but it's turned out to be more difficult than I thought. I'm still thrown about a little too much by my mood, so that when I'm discouraged I just don't work. My adviser has seemed pleased so far, but part of me wishes he were disappointed so I have incentive to work harder. Of course, I'd rather my own sense of duty and enthusiasm propel me, but I am not perfect yet, haha.
Instead I choose to read gems like http://www.icanhascheezburger.com and watch the robot chicken star wars special (thanks Bing!)
My musical experience has gone down the tubes, but hopefully I can get back on top of things soon. My priorities for this summer, however, are to work 40 hours a week and to get a consistent regiment. After that, I shall start learning how to play piano again.
Speaking of being disciplined, it's time to quit xanga for the day, make dinner, and work some more. Hopefully this time, however, I'll be back soon!
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| I watched all 115 episodes of Bleach last week, instead of catching up on homework after getting sick. Good for me!!! GUYS I HAVE WATCHED SO MUCH ANIME I THINK I KNOW HOW TO SPEAK JAPANESE NOW. At least I know how to swear and talk about swords and battle and spiritual presence and other important things.
All my homework now consists of group projects and term projects/papers. That means I should be getting a feel for actual research, but... I haven't really gotten into gear on that. I am almost back on schedule in terms of cleaning my room, laundry, dishes, exercise, and homework, but never quite completely on the ball.
But at least I updated my XANGA! And now that I remember it exists, hopefully I'll at least update a few more times before I forget again.
Oh yeah, and for those of you on the edges of your seats as the musical drama unfolds, I found a practice space for piano! Now I just need to go use it and practice. Berklee's bookstore is next to my apartment, so hopefully I can get some good sheet music too.
BAN-KAI!!!
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| No, I'm not talking about the show this time, I'm talking about the number of hours that I have wasted in quick succession. I have to write a 7-10 page paper but only feel like I can get about 5 pages done no matter how much effort I put into it. It was due on Monday but the class has a really lax late policy, so I defaulted for a week. On one hand I got almost through a semester before deliberately turning in an assignment late; on the other hand I just frustrate myself. Well, I know what I'll be doing after about six hours of sleep.
Despite all this, do you know how I feel about my life? It's all captured in this picture of pretty much all my favorite things in the world. Except for brain science and my friends. At least it has science fiction. If you know me, you can imagine how big of a smile shows on my face when I look at this.
YES, YES, Y-E-S!!!
So much happened this week, I wish I could remember it all to write it down. It's almost time for finals, classes are winding down for this semester, which is good. Christmas break is going to be great, but there are so many things to do. I have a history of trying to visit everyone I know and then end up short-changing everyone because I simply plan too much. Hopefully I can actually spend vacation, you know, relaxing, but it's already shaping up to be pretty crazy.
Winter hit this week. I checked weather.com on Thursday, it said "Boston: 25º, feels like 5º". And boy, it sure did! I can walk out in 20º weather in a t-shirt, but as soon as a breeze comes up I feel like my face is about to fall off. Needless to say, I've been enjoying myself. The day before that, it was 50º and oh so nice... I ended up walking up to the gym in shorts and a t-shirt at 9 PM because I had only checked the temperature for the day. After walking a mile and a half, when I grabbed the door handle to the gym my forearms went all tingly from the sudden rush of blood after activating arm muscles. What a crazy day that was!
On Friday Mike, Matt and I got pho at a vietnamese place and scoped out some Asian places to prepare for Priolo's visit. He should be here from something like the 15th to 20th, which will be pretty awesome.
Ever notice how techers in groups end up doing the most retarded things together? After dinner we decided to watch a movie, but we couldn't decide on what to watch, so we ended up going with our first suggestion, which was a total joke. It was an... interesting movie, it had its moments. No, I'm not going to tell you what it was, it's too embarrassing. And Bing isn't going to say anything about it. 
In other news, I miss Caltech. Still. What the heck. I'll be in Rancho Cucamonga until the 15th, though, so hopefully I'll see a good number of friends. Bing and I will cause some trouble. Not to mention all kinds of shenanigans with the girlfriend, as well as general insanity with J. Winn. Watch out!
Bedtime.
PS - I bought a cantaloupe, cut it into halves, and ate the whole thing myself. It was less filling than two tacos, a chicken sandwich, and a hamburger deluxe from Jack in the Box's 99 cent menu, but for the same price it tasted about a million times more awesome.
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| It's so embarrassing. It's only 10 AM of the first season, but I already wish I was Jack Bauer. I always thought Bing and Jon Winn were weird for having their obsession with the hero of 24, but apparently I am just as weird. Some of you may not be surprised by this fact, haha.
...so COOL.
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| It's time for me to start posting on Xanga again after a brief interlude.
I am the laziest dude around, though, so this won't really be substantial.
The news of the day is that it's raining in Boston... in November... because it's SEVENTY DEGREES outside! I was told this place is cold, come on now. Weak sauce. Good thing the place is absolutely beautiful with all the trees having turned golden and ember; I'll try and get a picture posted soon, I took a few earlier this week.
My girlfriend visited me last weekend! That was super fun. We ran around Boston, ate good food, and shopped like there was no tomorrow. You may say, how emasculating, but I say, how NOT HOMEWORK!!! Thankfully it was all made possible on a grad student budget because I don't really eat or spend money most of the time, haha. It was also on the best weekend for me; people not at Caltech actually tend to get Veteran's Day off, and last weekend was my post-midterms-lull. Unfortunately ACM95 doesn't take a travel break, hopefully Tami will recover from all the travel sometime soon...
A good high school friend of mine, Gabrielle, also came in for a conference last week, so we hung out and cruised around Boston. I need to learn how to get around this city, because of a misunderstanding I think I made us walk around for almost four hours. I always manage to provide an adventure for visitors, whether intentional or not. At least we were able to eat food, even if it took three hours to decide. it's kind of sad that, rather than our powers combining for greater action, groups of indecisive people combine our powers for... confusion.
Next week I'm flying out to Colorado to see my family, and I am SO EXCITED. If you're reading this Mom, now you know. I saw a free screening of Fast Food Nation on Tuesday with some BU friends, which was filmed in Colorado, and I almost couldn't pay attention to the movie for missing my homeland. Something about growing up with the Rockies on the horizon makes me nostalgic whenever I see footage of the mountains and rolling plains. Even if they're brown and covered in yucca plants, the plains have their own beauty that I can't wait to see again.
I am excited about everything, in fact, except doing homework. I have found myself reading about writing console emulators and installing Plan 9 on a spare partition of my computer. What a frickin' NERD. It kind of worries me that my hobbies are either musical or completely computer-oriented. I'm hoping it's because grad school is enthralling enough that I don't feel I need to spend extra time on it. I'm not so sure, however; I would have thought my free time would be spent reading CNS papers and writing neural simulators. Which, of course, I have thought about doing, haha. Maybe I shouldn't worry myself too much.
I NEED TO PLAY PIANO. I am going crazy without getting to practice. Hopefully I will find a space soon, and hopefully it won't be prohibitively expensive...
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