dude.
so today is the last day of classes. my advisor had assigned a program involving q-analogs of an algorithm we'd been learning about all semester, so we assumed that would be our last lecture. alas, no such thing.
instead, he announced "today we will do something more exciting -- software development! everybody will have a little part to do, and you will have lieutenants to report to. if you don't do your work, your lieutenant has to cover for you. i've already picked the leaders. my most senior graduate students are lara and eric."
someone interrupted "but what about aek?!" (aek is currently a 5th year, eric and i are 4th years).
z. got back to his project pitch "oh aek, i'm sorry, but you're too nice, you're not good at bossing people around, and actually, eric you do too much of your work in mathematica instead of maple, so lara is the boss! ok! and aek, eric, and baxter report to her. here's what the rest of your do."
apparently we're writing a program to solve kakuro puzzles.
* aek's team is in charge of writing a program to generate random test puzzles (although when i went around and harassed teams to make sure that their programming data structures were consistent with each other aek was taking a nap while his team did all the work).
* eric's team is in charge of taking a puzzle and translating it into a ridiculously huge system of diophantine equations.
* baxter's team is in charge of writing a program to solve the equations.
* i'm in charge of putting it all together interfacing it and making sure it works nice. it's due monday, and i'm going to be traveling friday and saturday to chicago and not so much online to receive parts of the program or work on fitting it together.
we'll see how this goes...
but apparently, i'm the ideal choice for a "project manager" to network people, interface work, and scare them into meeting deadlines. too bad there's not a competing team to take down. ;)
wish me luck with my week!
the end. :P
Monday, April 30, 2007
Friday, April 20, 2007
another smile :)
what a week! monday and tuesday were cancelled due to rain, but since then i've been running like crazy. today featured attending a luncheon where i was the guest speaker -- to a group of ladies who raise money for women in graduate school, going back to college, etc. etc. when i finally got home tonight, i had the following waiting in my inbox:
~~~~~~~~~~~
Subject: HOORAY FOR TODAY
Hi, Lara---
Were you ever a hit! Everybody loved you (of course) and couldnt stop talking
about how well you speak, how easily you handle being "on", how great your
"presence" is. In short, they really loved you.
Thank you again for coming; you made the day for the whole chapter and we
really look forward to seeing you again next week.
~~~~~~~~~~~
this made me smile! :)
now, after 2 days of working hard on the coolest research slides i've ever made :P, i'm headed to seattle tomorrow for a math conference. soooo excited to see many math friends again who i haven't seen in months/years. it shall be a party!
back here on monday. :P
be parties one and all. :)
~~~~~~~~~~~
Subject: HOORAY FOR TODAY
Hi, Lara---
Were you ever a hit! Everybody loved you (of course) and couldnt stop talking
about how well you speak, how easily you handle being "on", how great your
"presence" is. In short, they really loved you.
Thank you again for coming; you made the day for the whole chapter and we
really look forward to seeing you again next week.
~~~~~~~~~~~
this made me smile! :)
now, after 2 days of working hard on the coolest research slides i've ever made :P, i'm headed to seattle tomorrow for a math conference. soooo excited to see many math friends again who i haven't seen in months/years. it shall be a party!
back here on monday. :P
be parties one and all. :)
Tuesday, April 17, 2007
stuff about teeth?
survey question of the day:
* have you had your wisdom teeth removed?
if so,
* how many days did it knock out of your schedule?
* how painful was it afterwards?
(i currently have 3 of them in, and probably need 2 of them removed... NOT excited... actually, moderately freaked out is a more apt description...)
* have you had your wisdom teeth removed?
if so,
* how many days did it knock out of your schedule?
* how painful was it afterwards?
(i currently have 3 of them in, and probably need 2 of them removed... NOT excited... actually, moderately freaked out is a more apt description...)
Monday, April 16, 2007
let's talk about... rain!
so, we all knew a big storm was coming for several days. most of the country has seen it in some form or another. rain is nothing new. campus is along a river, so minor flooding and choosing routes carefully is nothing new. however, in my 4 years of grad school, i've seen night classes delayed, but never day classes cancelled. this wasn't even a blizzard, so i was all prepared to go about my traditionally hectic monday as usual.
instead. drama.
i woke up an hour before my alarm to colleen and leigh talking right outside my door. when i overheard:
colleen: "classes are actually cancelled for once. how exciting is that?"
i jumped out of bed, opened the door, and replied, "you're kidding!"
leigh: "nope! now who wants waffles?"
free waffles and less to do than planned already makes for a happy day. my advisor, who lives half an hour south of campus managed to be in his office by 9:30 and expected that unless roads prevented it that we'd still come have our regular research meetings with him. so i went in to see him, had very late lunch around 4 with eric, and then headed home around 7.
then, too excitable to sit still, i went for a walk to the park at the end of my street (which lies right along the river). check it out:
usually there are several soccer fields there, and the water only comes up to the very far treeline in the back!
fuzzy, but you get the idea
...and how.
ok, so dusk-time pictures don't turn out the best if you so much as breathe while the shutter's open, but, see the light in the middle? it's on top of a park pavilion that's 2/3 full of water!
not that elucidating, but i liked this shot:
a very grainy shot of the water compared to the NJ transit train bridge.
while i was wandering out and about and gawking at the water, i actually made a new friend! i was minding my own business taking pictures when juliana started talking to me, telling me just how much worse the flooding was in 1999 instead. she works for rutgers dining services and asked what i study. when i said math, she commented that she's hungarian and knows there are many famous hungarian mathematicians, then delightedly told me lots of things about hungarian language, history etc., 2/3 of which i knew, some of which was new. :) she has a 21 year old son, so she's basically old enough to be my mother, but she was so delighted to talk to an american who has been to hungary several times before, and loves it. she told me which cafeteria she works in, and said if i stopped by to chat with her sometime she'd set me up with a good meal. :)
so summary:
(1) yay for days that start off with cancelled work and free waffles!
(2) i am in awe of powerful weather.
(3) i seem to attract hungarian friends wherever i go, and that makes me smile. :)
instead. drama.
i woke up an hour before my alarm to colleen and leigh talking right outside my door. when i overheard:
colleen: "classes are actually cancelled for once. how exciting is that?"
i jumped out of bed, opened the door, and replied, "you're kidding!"
leigh: "nope! now who wants waffles?"
free waffles and less to do than planned already makes for a happy day. my advisor, who lives half an hour south of campus managed to be in his office by 9:30 and expected that unless roads prevented it that we'd still come have our regular research meetings with him. so i went in to see him, had very late lunch around 4 with eric, and then headed home around 7.
then, too excitable to sit still, i went for a walk to the park at the end of my street (which lies right along the river). check it out:
usually there are several soccer fields there, and the water only comes up to the very far treeline in the back!
fuzzy, but you get the idea
...and how.
ok, so dusk-time pictures don't turn out the best if you so much as breathe while the shutter's open, but, see the light in the middle? it's on top of a park pavilion that's 2/3 full of water!
not that elucidating, but i liked this shot:
a very grainy shot of the water compared to the NJ transit train bridge.
while i was wandering out and about and gawking at the water, i actually made a new friend! i was minding my own business taking pictures when juliana started talking to me, telling me just how much worse the flooding was in 1999 instead. she works for rutgers dining services and asked what i study. when i said math, she commented that she's hungarian and knows there are many famous hungarian mathematicians, then delightedly told me lots of things about hungarian language, history etc., 2/3 of which i knew, some of which was new. :) she has a 21 year old son, so she's basically old enough to be my mother, but she was so delighted to talk to an american who has been to hungary several times before, and loves it. she told me which cafeteria she works in, and said if i stopped by to chat with her sometime she'd set me up with a good meal. :)
so summary:
(1) yay for days that start off with cancelled work and free waffles!
(2) i am in awe of powerful weather.
(3) i seem to attract hungarian friends wherever i go, and that makes me smile. :)
oh, how i laugh...
i've long known about The Mechanical Contrivium -- click the link, and you can plug in any noun you want. the website picks 10 random facts from a large database, and replaces a word in each sentence with a noun you picked.
my best one to date was plugging in my advisor's algorithm and getting:
Ten Top Trivia Tips about Z's algorithm!
1. Z's algorithm is the sacred animal of Thailand.
2. In Chinese, the sound 'z's algorithm' means 'bite the wax tadpole'!
3. The opposite sides of z's algorithm always add up to seven.
4. The international dialling code for z's algorithm is 672.
5. Z's algorithm can drink over 25 gallons of water at a time.
6. On stone temples in southern India, there are more than 30 million carved images of z's algorithm.
7. The only Englishman to become zeilberger's algorithm was Nicholas Breakspear, who was z's algorithm from 1154 to 1159.
8. Most bottles and jars contain at least twenty-five percent recycled z's algorithm.
9. In its entire life, z's algorithm will produce only a twelfth of a teaspoon of honey.
10. If you drop z's algorithm from the top of the Empire State Building, it will be falling fast enough to kill before reaching the ground!
...but i had read that list several months ago. 5 minutes ago, i was plugging in random things, and i now officially have the BEST LIST EVER. by the end of it, i couldn't contain myself, i was laughing so hard. i hope it cracks you up too! enjoy!
Ten Top Trivia Tips about Stupid boys!
1. Stupid boys have 118 ridges around the edge.
2. Never store stupid boys at room temperature.
3. Forty percent of the world's almonds and twenty percent of the world's peanuts are used in the manufacture of stupid boys!
4. Two thirds of the world's eggplant is grown in stupid boys.
5. California is the biggest exporter of stupid boys in the world.
6. The colour of stupid boys is no indication of their spiciness, but size usually is!
7. Antarctica is the only continent without stupid boys.
8. A chimpanzee can learn to recognize itself in a mirror, but stupid boys can not!
9. Humans have 46 chromosomes, peas have 14, and stupid boys have 7.
10. If you kiss stupid boys for one minute you will burn six or seven calories.
happy monday!!!
my best one to date was plugging in my advisor's algorithm and getting:
Ten Top Trivia Tips about Z's algorithm!
1. Z's algorithm is the sacred animal of Thailand.
2. In Chinese, the sound 'z's algorithm' means 'bite the wax tadpole'!
3. The opposite sides of z's algorithm always add up to seven.
4. The international dialling code for z's algorithm is 672.
5. Z's algorithm can drink over 25 gallons of water at a time.
6. On stone temples in southern India, there are more than 30 million carved images of z's algorithm.
7. The only Englishman to become zeilberger's algorithm was Nicholas Breakspear, who was z's algorithm from 1154 to 1159.
8. Most bottles and jars contain at least twenty-five percent recycled z's algorithm.
9. In its entire life, z's algorithm will produce only a twelfth of a teaspoon of honey.
10. If you drop z's algorithm from the top of the Empire State Building, it will be falling fast enough to kill before reaching the ground!
...but i had read that list several months ago. 5 minutes ago, i was plugging in random things, and i now officially have the BEST LIST EVER. by the end of it, i couldn't contain myself, i was laughing so hard. i hope it cracks you up too! enjoy!
Ten Top Trivia Tips about Stupid boys!
1. Stupid boys have 118 ridges around the edge.
2. Never store stupid boys at room temperature.
3. Forty percent of the world's almonds and twenty percent of the world's peanuts are used in the manufacture of stupid boys!
4. Two thirds of the world's eggplant is grown in stupid boys.
5. California is the biggest exporter of stupid boys in the world.
6. The colour of stupid boys is no indication of their spiciness, but size usually is!
7. Antarctica is the only continent without stupid boys.
8. A chimpanzee can learn to recognize itself in a mirror, but stupid boys can not!
9. Humans have 46 chromosomes, peas have 14, and stupid boys have 7.
10. If you kiss stupid boys for one minute you will burn six or seven calories.
happy monday!!!
Friday, April 13, 2007
AAAHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
excitement, joy, etc.
i just got word that i am one of FOUR people in the whole university to receive a 2007 school of arts and sciences award for distinguished contribution to undergraduate teaching. i had no clue i was nominated.
i get excited when the math department gives me awards for various things, because even though i do the work i do because i enjoy it, it's cool to know that other people recognize i put a lot in. but to be nominated without my knowledge for an larger more competative citation... and receive it. i'm bouncing off the wall. :)
yay for teaching math!!!!!!!!!!!! :P
the end.
i just got word that i am one of FOUR people in the whole university to receive a 2007 school of arts and sciences award for distinguished contribution to undergraduate teaching. i had no clue i was nominated.
i get excited when the math department gives me awards for various things, because even though i do the work i do because i enjoy it, it's cool to know that other people recognize i put a lot in. but to be nominated without my knowledge for an larger more competative citation... and receive it. i'm bouncing off the wall. :)
yay for teaching math!!!!!!!!!!!! :P
the end.
Thursday, April 12, 2007
10 things...
ok, so maybe not 10. i was brainstorming to myself and thought it would be an interesting exercise to make an actual list of things i believe in and things i don't. i expected to think a bit to list 10 things each, but not to be horribly put out by the exercise. the trouble is, i found one list super easy to do -- i had 11 things i believe in in less than 5 minutes. the other list, 10 things i DON'T believe in, took me on the order of 45 minutes, and i came up with even more things i DO believe in while trying to fill the second one out.
as i was thinking, i asked a friend, who commented that it's easier to be negative so the "list of things i don't believe in" should be easier. he immediately spouted off: "fairies, the loch ness monster, elves, communism, capitalism, gnosticism, donatism, santa claus, easter bunny, and buddhism", but when pressed, 2 minutes later gave a list of things he believes in as "God, creation, gravity, light, single predestination, the Real Presence, efficacy of baptism, reason, family systems theory, and the Chicago Cubs" (if you actually know me and my circle of friends you know who it was by now :P)
it surprised me that for as much as i struggled with one list and not the other,
(a) someone else found the other one harder to do
(b) making both lists took me 45 minutes, and took someone else 5.
i know what i believe in, but have a harder time being firm about things i don't believe in (the first 5 on that list came easily... the last 5 were more contrived after much thought).
anyhow, after much ado, here's my lists:
things that i believe in
(1) God
(2) heaven
(3) mathematics
(4) natural beauty
(5) honesty
(6) the power of laughter
(7) the power of true friendship
(8) the pursuit of knowledge
(9) the joy of travel
(10) scientific method/ logic/ being analytical
(11) hugs
(12) the pittsburgh steelers
(13) doing what you love (see numbers 3, 8, 9, 10 :P)
(14) being independent
(15) myself (usually)
things that i don't believe in
(1) romantic love -- agape (God) love? yes... friendship love? yes... that other people have real true romantic love for one another? yes... that i have the capacity for it? not yet convinced.
(2) ghosts
(3) horoscopes
(4) getting excited about celebrity gossip
(5) reincarnation
(6) being cocky
(7) being reckless
(8) being rich -- yes, i want to be able to pay my bills and be comfortable, but i have no desire to have excessive amounts of money.
(9) being famous -- i think it's just more trouble than it's worth. i highly value minding my own business.
(10) myself (occasionally)
so now, your turn: discussion time:
(1) what do you believe in? what do you not believe in?
(2) which list is easier for you to write?
(3) how much time would it take for you to come up with both lists at least 10 things long?
1,2,3, go!
as i was thinking, i asked a friend, who commented that it's easier to be negative so the "list of things i don't believe in" should be easier. he immediately spouted off: "fairies, the loch ness monster, elves, communism, capitalism, gnosticism, donatism, santa claus, easter bunny, and buddhism", but when pressed, 2 minutes later gave a list of things he believes in as "God, creation, gravity, light, single predestination, the Real Presence, efficacy of baptism, reason, family systems theory, and the Chicago Cubs" (if you actually know me and my circle of friends you know who it was by now :P)
it surprised me that for as much as i struggled with one list and not the other,
(a) someone else found the other one harder to do
(b) making both lists took me 45 minutes, and took someone else 5.
i know what i believe in, but have a harder time being firm about things i don't believe in (the first 5 on that list came easily... the last 5 were more contrived after much thought).
anyhow, after much ado, here's my lists:
things that i believe in
(1) God
(2) heaven
(3) mathematics
(4) natural beauty
(5) honesty
(6) the power of laughter
(7) the power of true friendship
(8) the pursuit of knowledge
(9) the joy of travel
(10) scientific method/ logic/ being analytical
(11) hugs
(12) the pittsburgh steelers
(13) doing what you love (see numbers 3, 8, 9, 10 :P)
(14) being independent
(15) myself (usually)
things that i don't believe in
(1) romantic love -- agape (God) love? yes... friendship love? yes... that other people have real true romantic love for one another? yes... that i have the capacity for it? not yet convinced.
(2) ghosts
(3) horoscopes
(4) getting excited about celebrity gossip
(5) reincarnation
(6) being cocky
(7) being reckless
(8) being rich -- yes, i want to be able to pay my bills and be comfortable, but i have no desire to have excessive amounts of money.
(9) being famous -- i think it's just more trouble than it's worth. i highly value minding my own business.
(10) myself (occasionally)
so now, your turn: discussion time:
(1) what do you believe in? what do you not believe in?
(2) which list is easier for you to write?
(3) how much time would it take for you to come up with both lists at least 10 things long?
1,2,3, go!
Thursday, April 05, 2007
students are fun. :)
not teaching this semester, but i finally got around to reading my teaching reviews from fall 2006 this afternoon.
most were standard with comments like
"lara actually made me WANT to learn calculus."
"lara made recitation fun, so i never felt the need to sleep in class."
"lara explains things clearly."
however, one in particular stood out this time. i'm fairly sure i recognized the handwriting too, even though it's anonymous. enjoy.
question: "what was the best part of this class?"
student response: "picking up chicks. how about you and me baby integrate all the way to 2*Pi?"
question: "if you were teaching this class what would you do differently?"
student response: "i would teach with flames ALL OVER my body."
question "how has this class encouraged your intellectual growth?"
student response: "take more drugs (you should try it.)"
dude. so apparently, i should light myself on fire before i start class in the future.
student evaluations,... always a learning experience. :)
most were standard with comments like
"lara actually made me WANT to learn calculus."
"lara made recitation fun, so i never felt the need to sleep in class."
"lara explains things clearly."
however, one in particular stood out this time. i'm fairly sure i recognized the handwriting too, even though it's anonymous. enjoy.
question: "what was the best part of this class?"
student response: "picking up chicks. how about you and me baby integrate all the way to 2*Pi?"
question: "if you were teaching this class what would you do differently?"
student response: "i would teach with flames ALL OVER my body."
question "how has this class encouraged your intellectual growth?"
student response: "take more drugs (you should try it.)"
dude. so apparently, i should light myself on fire before i start class in the future.
student evaluations,... always a learning experience. :)
