you might have a good friend if...

you spend 45 minutes on the phone, saying mostly, "i'm stupid, i'm dumb, i'm going to fail, i'm going to die, i'm worthless" and variations on those themes
and 45 minutes later said friend is still on the other end of the line telling you things to the contrary, "not that you'll believe me, because i know you're stubborn about being negative about yourself, but maybe if you hear me say the opposite often enough you'll hear me saying it once awhile in your head amidst all the lies in there"

yeah... that's my afternoon... yay for people who don't give up on me, even when i'm ready to

in record time

new expert level minesweeper personal best time today: 84 seconds

yay!

my loan i've been trying for a few MONTHS to get? officially approved and just waiting on rutgers to send back a form to the TERI people... do dah do dah :-)

my experimental math homework that i've had 3 weeks to do and started on 27 hours ago? DONE, and printed out (27 pages worth... isn't that fun?... i've been good today)

now, scott's over here and promised to read TWO stories...

quote of the day that proves *someone*'s been talking to me a heck of a lot lately to come up with immediate answers this great :-P

lkp 42 42 42: which 2 books should i have him read (i own 5... i can't think this hard this late :-P)
---: DUH!
---: stack them
---: then, grab the fourth, and then after that, he can read the second.
---: *thus, 42*
---: the answer to all things.

yay :-)

story time, chat time, then bed time

night y'all

fun with pictures

so, as referenced before, my uncle gave me his digital camera this weekend since he got a new one. since i finished 3 of my 6 experimental math problems due tomorrow (which were assigned 3 weeks ago and i started last night), i gave myself a "fun with my new camera" break... here's the results:

my cousin and her dog

• rachel and mia, take 1
  
  
• rachel and mia, take 2
  
  
• rachel and mia, take 3
  
  

around the house

• through the looking glass
  
  
• still playing with the mirror
  
  
• the most messy my room has been in a bit (not bad, eh?)
  
  
• rainbow on my ceiling
  
  
• my angels, etc.
  
  

playing with colors

• burning candle
  
  
• negative of the previous picture (the camera actually took this picture, no help of graphics editor of anything)
  
  
• funny looking sky, thanks to more fun camera settings
  
  
• me, in negative color -- scary, eh?
  
  
• negative of the previous picture, set back to normal
  
  

(and yes, re: the last picture i *am* tired today... nonetheless, back to work... later dudes :-P)

two stories

(1) last night, i'm getting ready for bed when i get an IM from my friend shalom in hungary telling me "go to bed, why on earth are you still up?"... it was 8:30am for her (and thus 2:30am for me) and she was getting ready to go to church... while it was still saturday night chatting time for me... it's a small world :-P... and i live in my own time zone :-P

(2) i pick up my friend paul for church each week since his car died a couple months ago... he likes my church so much he's decided to join it, which is very cool since he's been in jersey a year longer than me and hadn't found a place he was comfortable joining yet :-P

anywho, today he asks me if he can borrow some cash to put in the offering and then we can stop by an ATM on the way home for him to pay me back... fine.

this was a first though. we stick his card in, punch the pin, ask for the balance and the ATM prints out a receipt "your card is invalid, we have retained it for your protection"... the stupid thing stole his ATM card! i've never seen that happen before ever... we laughed the whole way home about it. apparently that happened to him once in europe too... what are the odds?

go figure... back to homework... later dudes.

:-)

update

was in pittsburgh at 4 this afternoon, as was my mom... now she's safely back in memphis (via plane, obviously), and i've been back at my apartment in jersey for over an hour... via car in the rain :-P

i get a call about 2 hours before i got back from leigh... apparently the reset button on our furnace got tripped while no one was home in the past 2 days, so she and her mom came home to a 59 degree house tonight and didn't know what to do and leigh didn't have the landlord's number. i gave her the number, and came home at 9:45 to them playing a board game bundled up in coats... my first job upon arrival? went downstairs to tinker with the furnace... as soon as i finished draining and refilling it, and going for the reset, the landlord appeared and pushed it for me :-P... doht... i guess out of habit of this being my fourth non-dorm apartment i've had without living with anyone older than me, i'm just stubborn enough to try to tinker with things rather than immediately giving up and calling over help...

anyhow, the house is warming up, i'm unpacked, and i need to start homework... doht

later dudes

tales from the nursing home

yesterday was thanksgiving family time at my aunt's house, and mom flew into town too...

today was nursing home day to visit grandma and roy (my step grandpa)... last time i visited grandma was in late july, and she was rather out of it that visit... this time she was much more with it, although her mind still wanders a lot... anyhow, it was a good visit this time, so yay for that...

(if you're unaware, my grandma had a series of strokes back in 2000, and has been paralyzed and in a nursing home ever since)..... anyhow, she may not be able to move much more than her right hand, and she may not always speak clearly, but my grandma's a ham anyhow... :-P

quotes:

aunt priscilla: so, mom, how old will you be on sunday?
grandma: two hundred
mom: and how many children do you have now?
grandma: thirteen and a turkey
aunt priscilla: wow you've been productive this year -- where do you keep all the new ones?


(correct answers? 76 years old this sunday and 5 children, 4 still living... last birthday she insisted she was 89 for a week and that she had 4 daughters instead of 3... above answers were completely joking with grandma laughing as she said them or they wouldn't be posted as a funny quote)

grandma: (*all the sudden, with no prompting*) i have a confession to make to all of you!
mom/aunt priscilla: what is it?
grandma: (looks at them and starts laughing)... (long pause) i can't remember how to say it! (taps on her own forehead)
mom: are you trying to knock some sense in? i don't think it works that way
grandma: (laughs even harder)
mom: well if you think of it, we love you, your forgive you, and we love you some more, so there!

(later, after grandma mumbled/whispered to mom for awhile)
aunt priscilla (joking): have you given her the absolution yet?
mom: no, how's that supposed to go?
aunt priscilla: i, by virtue of being the oldest,
mom: (interrupts) no, you're the youngest
aunt priscilla: no, i was telling *you* what to say... fine, i can pretend to be lutheran again... in the name of the daughter, and the other daughter, and the son, and myself by virtue of being the youngest end therefore being endowed with all the love and grace from the older ones forgive you for all your confessions my dearest mother sunshine dear (starts singing by the end)

(i don't come by being silly naturally at all, do i? :-P)

happy thanksgiving!

greetings from pittsburgh

top 5 things i am thankful for in the last 24 hours
(5) spiffy new digital camera (thanks to my uncle getting himself a new one, yesterday i acquired a pretty sweet digital camera (i.e. his old one) with all kinds of cool options and attachments)
(4) funny voicemails
(3)SNOW! -- even if it's just flurries and not sticking at all yet, it still makes me happy :-)
(2) the PA turnpike workers strike -- when i should pay $10 each way on my trip this week, yesterday was free and saturday is looking like it'll only cost $2 -- i like that
(1) family and friends (i.e. family by birth and family by choice ;-P) -- i have fantastic people in both of those categories :-)

happy thankgiving y'all! :-)

score!

so how party is this? my radio goes off at 7:30am in the middle of the morning news and the first thing i hear is "for some of you travelling this day before thanksgiving, you get a travel break... pennsylvania turnpike workers have gone on strike, so it's free today since there's no one there to collect the tolls"

shower, couple errands, and i'm outta here

happy thanksgiving people! :-)

christmasing

so i had planned to hold out til after thanksgiving with the mannheim steamroller and cards and decorations and stuff, but...

(1) 2 of the 6 radio stations bookmarked on my car stereo having been playing christmas tunes for over a week now
(2) it was waaay too tempting to not do math today, so i didn't... instead i got 120 sheets of christmas stationary at staples on sunday, and equally many cards at hallmark today, and printed out my christmas letter (120 copies worth, only 4 jammed and screwed up) and signed them all by hand... with mannheim steamroller blasting in the background the whole time :-)

asked travis earlier, when i listed all the things i was excited about earlier today "please tell me you bought 120 cards in boxes or something, not 120 individually chosen cards... although i'd still think you were cool if you did the latter too" :-P

ironically, i've also heard "walking in memphis" 3 times today, 3 different versions, on 3 different stations,... how funny and random is that?

in other news, i'm home alone (colleen's en route to minnesota already and leigh's in NYC with her mom)... i leave to drive to pittsburgh in the morning, hopefully in time to say goodbye to my foster cousin of 2 years who's moving to a new family tomorrow... but let me tell you -- i have a marvelous evening planned... silly TV, cross stitching, packing, and a whole butternut squash to bake :-) this will be good :-)

happy thanksgiving eve eve ;-)

eh

i don't like being sick.

yesterday i was running a low grade fever most of the day, but was at class anyhow because in 2 of the 3 cases it was pretty necessary for me to be... ben felt bad for me after the last one and took me out to eat at a diner, then i spent the evening dozing off in a recliner with a cup of hot tea, a huge glass of water, and a box of tissues in front of "calendar girls", which consequently was a pretty good movie.

today i don't have the sweats and chills yet, but we'll see... i only have one class between me and break, and i figure i can transplant myself to the lecture room for 80 minutes before coming home to crash again... that's reasonable, right?

tomorrow is road trip day... i *have* to feel better then :-P

highs n lows

saturday: didn't feel like getting up, so when i woke up at noon, i stayed in bed til 5pm... ben came over at 3 to help me with my analysis and ended up sitting on the foot of my bed and letting me stay put but making me work anyhow. (how pathetic am i?)

after that long, he dedcided half my problem was low blood sugar and he was making me get food, so applebees it was... quote of the evening

me: i'll have a raspberry iced tea
waiter: and you sir?
ben: i was thinking about having the same
waiter: well, we *do* have more than one glass of tea back there, so really it's ok if you get one too.

after that i didn't feel much different, but ben said i was more chipper... anyhow, we went back to my house to work on more qual- analysis until about 11pm... then roommate and dave came... they had been at a wedding in harrisburg, PA of another valpo person, and drove the 3 hours more to hang out with me for a day :-)... they got in around midnight, and all was good.

sunday: contrary to false advertising by me a month ago, yesterday was pastor J's last sunday... his sermon was a tearjerker.... at communion he did the chalice on both railings so that he could give communion to everyone one last time... after church i got roommate to take my picture with him since i don't have a picture with him yet, and said goodbye... his words to me were "so, one of these days i expect to be adressing you as *doctor*... i'm expecting great things from you lara!"

this time, it's for real... he's moving to VA within the week, and although they'll be back, we're officially in vacancy pastor land for a bit...

anyhow, that was a tearjerker... then roommate, dave, and me went to my house to make lunch and for kristin to go through my photo albums and steal things for a project she's working on... that was more fun... then we got tickets for a sneak preview of "finding neverland", except after sitting in the theater for 20 minutes waiting on the film, they announced they were having trouble splicing the reels together and they'd both (a) either refund our tickets or replace them with tickets to another show.... and (b) give us an extra ticket to any show of choice in the future... the next show of polar express (i was the only one who'd seen it) was at 5:40 (it was then 4:15), so we went to copy the pictures roommate wanted...

3 strikes on that (NJ seemed to be against us yesterday)-- first walmart's photomaker machine was down... the kmart's was too... so we went to staples for color copies, and their copy center staff was incompetant... kept wandering off and just being silly and inattentive... in the time it took them to copy a dozen photos, i looked through all the christmas stationary and picked out the one to use for my christmas letter this year... and travis called and i talked to him for a good 5-10 minutes, with roommate talked to him too, *and* waited around for awhile besides *that*... blah

so, copies of pictures instead of photo maker pictures, movie delay by nearly two hours, we went back to the theater... roommate and dave both enjoyed polar express, and i enjoyed it just as much if not more the 2nd time around...

then, scott and colleen had called to say they were hungry and if they were still invited, were ready to eat with us, half an hour before the movie was out... only they were half an hour away, so once we coordinated location, we drove out to bridgewater for tgi fridays with them!...

scott and me had margaritas, and i ordered dinner too, but my stomach was upset so really i just had lots of margarita and lots of water for dinner... how brilliant is that?

scott and me got dave to "mooo" and roommate told me and scott about a dr. seuss book she thought we'd like... inspired by her description, scott said that he'd run to the barnes and noble across the parking lot and if it was there he'd get it, if not he'd return empty-handed.... well, not only did he return with that book, there was a "buy 2 , get the 3rd free sale" on dr. seuss books, so he also returned with "mr. brown can moo, can you?", and "oh say can you say?" besides the requested "i am not getting up today", and read the last one to the whole table for pre-dinner entertainment... it was pretty quality. :-)

after that, i was tired and my head hurt, so upon our return back to my place, i left kristin and dave to their packing/trip plotting fun, and took a shower to feel better... some late night tv, both me and roommate chatting more with travis, and then we all crashed.

now, i'm up, and roommate and dave left an hour ago, and i got just 3 classes and a meeting between me and thanksgiving break... woohoo

oh!

other quote since i forgot to type it in this novel

roommate: so what hebrew words do you know now?
me: mazel tov!
roommate: did someone just have a baby?
me: you did! didn't anyone tell you?
roommate: um, no

yay for friends and for funny boys who make me smile, boo for math-directed angst and headaches. the end.

Math Grad School -- the game

found this at http://www.math.uiowa.edu/~tomforde/gradgame.html... it's amazingly accurate... enjoy :-)

---

Math Grad School ^® : The Game!

---

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^® : The Game"
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With "Math Grad School ^®: The Game" you can experience all
the fun and realism of grad school in the comfort of your own
home. Every nuance of
the real graduate experience is reproduced in this game.

The Game Takes
You Through the Whole Process:

• application
  
• acceptance
  
• classwork
  
• research
  
• authorship battles
  
• boring talks
  
• confusing talks
  
• long talks
  
• incomprehensible talks
  
• real analysis
  
• complex analysis
  
• functional analysis
  
• psychoanalysis
  
• depression
  
• social isolation
  
• hopelessness
  
• anxiety
  
• job hunting
  

And so much more!

Call all your friends over for years of wholesome fun. Check out these
great features of "Math Grad School ^® : The Game"

Choose Your Own Character

You have your choice of a wide variety of characters:

• Jill: the emotionally unstable ABD
  
• Fred: the naive first-year
  
• George: the fixture-like ninth-year
  
• Harold: the overwhelmed and under-funded TA
  
• Laura: the disgruntled TA
  
• Jacques: the exploited international student
  
• Backstabbing Caroline: the political opportunist
  

And many, many more...

Confront a Wide Array of Interesting Opponents

Throughout your quests in strange and exotic lands you will encounter
people who apparently receive great joy at your misfortune. In fact,
they are a major cause of this misfortune:

• Prof. Rewrite: if he gets on your committee you're doomed
  
• Metoo: A fellow grad student who becomes a dead weight on all your projects
  
• Partytime Pamela: Invites you to time-wasting parties every other night
  
• Prof. Touchy-Feely: A sexual harassment case waiting to happen
  
• Rod Starr: Super Grad Student, makes you look bad by graduating in 12 days
  
• Susan Stickyfingers: Your kleptomaniac officemate
  

Along with dozens of others!

Real Life Challenges

Pick a Setback Card and see what fun adventures await you:

• Fail a Qualifying Exam: progress slows down
  
• Videogame Attack: Lose 12 turns by playing Tetris
  
• Read One More Paper: need to find and read just one more paper before starting your research
  
• Dissertation Scooped: Go back to "new candidate" status
  
• Get Drunk at a Conference: Spin the Faculty Insult Wheel for your penalty
  
• Advisor Retires/Moves/Changes Interests: Start over
  
• Car Towed: Sell your stereo to get it out of hock, lose motivation. Roll the soul-searching dice to determine your next move.
  

Different Ways to Finish!

Most other games are boring. They have a "winner" and a bunch of
"losers."
The goal of "Math Grad School ^® : The Game" is
different. There are no
winners in grad school, only survivors and failures! Your goal is to be a
survivor. That means different things to different people, and
consequently there are a
wide range of ways to survive:

• Go to law school: Successfully escape
  
• Marry rich: Don't worry anymore
  
• Find God: Math and Science are for fools
  
• Start a family: Change your priorities
  
• Capitalize on one of your ideas and make millions: Ah, engineering...
  
• Would you like fries with that? Ah, humanities...
  
• Go postal at your defense. Doesn't a nice padded cell sound cozy?
  
• Graduate???
  

"Math Grad School ^® : The Game" -- Look for it in stores
near you!

moooovies

ben and me saw national treasure last night -- on the whole i liked it... especially parts in DC, philly, and NYC where i'd definitely been before, although i jumped quite a few times too...

even more exciting, guess what we saw the first preview for?!?!?!! Hitchikers Guide to the Galaxy, the movie comes out next may!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! i can't wait.

the end. :-)

quote

"so i was telling this guy at work about you, and he asked 'so, how is it you've been talking to her this long and she doesn't know you're crazy?'... my response? 'oh, she *knows* i'm crazy, but she's crazy too... in fact i think we're both the same kind of crazy... we both live under the assumption that the other one should be scared of us and are constantly amazed that they're not... that's why it seems to work so well'"

misc.

(1) i don't know if all of us AIM users get the same ads each day, but today's was a pain... you didn't even have to click it, just move your mouse over it and the stupid thing opens up an internet window... so, like i did on my last computer, i went in search of ad-remover software.

this place: http://aftermath.dyndns.org:8888/~aimadhack/ works wonderfully. it gets rid of the ad at the top of your buddy list window, links to AIM games, weather bug, and other stuff that AIM automatically installs on you, and leaves you with the chat basics (although you can elect to keep the extra options if you want... you're only required to remove the ad at the top of your buddy list window... and changes the AIM logo to the ad-hacker logo (name of the program)... if i can keep doing what i want without stupid ads, i am completely happy.... if the ads are getting to you, try this.

(2) i can't believe the donald fired two people last night -- i was soooooooo jealous of their reward this week too... meeting billy joel and seeing movin out? i've done the second, and i've seen him in concert before, but that was just plain fantastic... end of commentary :-P

(3) quote of the day yesterday:
---: but ur lara
---: most of my friends know about you
---: a few wonder if i'm going to run away and marry you
---: *snickers*

(4) quote of the day in the hour i've been awake today:
well, not exactly a "quote" per se, but you know...
leigh (one of my roommates) is not a morning person... she often leaves the house really quickly without being seen by either me or colleen before she goes... i told her earlier in the week that that makes me sad... even if she's not happy about being awake, she should at least come and frown in my doorway before she leaves

guess what? today she did... although she couldn't hold a frown for too long, and when i cheered and told her good job, she burst out laughing anyhow :-P

all in a day's work :-)

class time... later dudes.

some smiles?

my IM away message today:
longest day EVER... if you can make me smile, you definitely get bonus points :-P
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
the results?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
mom: how's it going today?
: We have a beautiful new female cockatoo named Samantha (Sammy). She talks in a sweet feminine voice...a little garbled, but pleasant.
: i will trust that your friends can make you smile...i send you love and a BIG hug.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

kate: "Do you like my hat?" :-D i hope that makes you smile! hang in there babe

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

adam hughes: emordnilap a s'tI llama llama pizza pizza party-in-a-box cup-of-cheer reehc-fo-puc xob-a-ni-ytrap azzip azzip amall amall It's a palindrome

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

roommate (aka kristin): let's see if this works

Be Glad Your Nose is on Your Face

Be glad your nose is on your face,
not pasted on some other place,
for if it were where it is not,
you might dislike your nose a lot.

Imagine if your precious nose
were sandwiched in between your toes,
that clearly would not be a treat,
for you'd be forced to smell your feet.

Your nose would be a source of dread
were it attached atop your head,
it soon would drive you to despair,
forever tickled by your hair.

Within your ear, your nose would be
an absolute catastrophe,
for when you were obliged to sneeze,
your brain would rattle from the breeze.

Your nose, instead, through thick and thin,
remains between your eyes and chin,
not pasted on some other place--
be glad your nose is on your face!

Jack Prelutsky

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

yay for friends ;-)

party

so apparently there's this kid from singapore living in my old apartment in budapest and going to my old church there... and apparently my old budapest church friends and some current BSM (budapest semesters in mathematics) students are having an "international dinner party" at my old place this saturday.

i soooo wish i were there.

(p.s. friend shalom from my church there is in the states with her parents for a couple weeks, she called tonight and that makes me happy :-) )

still... party with my two key groups of budapest people AT my old apartment... anybody know how to teleport?

a service to remember

false advertising on my part a few weeks ago... late october, my church had a retirement service for pastor j, who is indeed retiring... however, that was not his last week, like i made it sound to be... next sunday is... however, the congregation had a few tricks up its sleeves even today.

every sunday, pastor starts out inviting people to come up and make announcements... the last person in line was the youth group president, and she told pastor "so, we have a surprise for you!"... having noticed that EVERY SINGLE child in the congregation was packed into the 10:30 service instead of distributed between the two services, he remarked he figured *something* was going on... she told him that in thanks for all his hard work over the years, he got the service off, and he should go sit with his family... pastor was totally thrown for a loop... 8am service went as normal, he was ready to preach again, etc., and here he was, being told he wasn't allowed.

the older youth (junior high/HS age) read the various prayers/responses, etc., then there were a few more treats

for the kids sermon, with all the kids packed up front, one of the 8th graders led, and commented "so pastor, over the years you've given many a kids sermon to generations of kids!... most times you use props... like bicycle handlebars to talk about how God helps steer our lives, or trophies to help us remember the only reward that counts in the end is heaven... well today, pastor, you're our prop, so come on up here!"... while pastor sat up front in the middle of the pile of small children, the older kids brought up gifts to him... a white robe, for him to remember all the kids he's helped tell about the robe of rigteousness... a baseball cap for teaching others about the helmet of salvation... a teddy bear to thank him for all the love he's shown to everyone, and a book to give him back some of the wisdom he's shared with others... decked out in all of the above by the end of the message, it was funny, but also extremely touching.

for the actual sermon, the junior high kids read personal testimonies of what they've learned from pastor j.

finally, at the end, all the children in the congregation went up front and sang "this little gospel light of mine", changing the last verse to "Pastor's light will never leave, cause we're gonna let it shine"

finally, as the praise band played ray boltz's "thank you", pastor was escorted to the back to hug each and every kid on their way out...

not your typical service, but absolutely fantastic (you can't tell how much we all love pastor j at all, can you?)

next week promises to be the adult version of the same, it'll be quality.

the end.

a mooooovie-ful day

the work part of today was done with much more quickly than normal -- that much was nice... with the early pizza seminar thing, i was home over an hour and a half earlier than normal... talked online for a couple hours... watched last night's apprentice, and then it was movie marathon.

first, i had rented "bridget jones's diary" earlier in the week to watch and redecide if i liked it or not (the first time i saw it i was expecting something different and didn't think much of it... this time around i liked it much better), and leigh and ben both wanted to see it too, so it was movie party at lara's house :-)

that movie done, ben and me went to panera for dinner, to barnes and noble for cheesecake, then to see "polar express", which i was completely enchanted by -- it was a quality story :-)... after that, we immediately turned around and got tickets for the next showing of the bridget jones sequel, which i just got home from and which we both enjoyed fantastically!

anyhow, that's the scoop... waiting for a certain person to get home from work and chat with me, and then going to sleep.

happy weekend people! :-)

doht!

left super early this morning because pizza seminar is a period earlier than normal today and i needed to set up the freakin room before my 9:50 class... however, slight delay in the general plans...

got pulled over for being slightly over the limit... however, every time i've been pulled over (i can think of 3 times now), it goes something like this
lara rolls down window and waits for cop to get to her car
cop comes over, "can i see your license and registration please?"
lara: "sure", dig out license and registration and hand them over
cop: "where you comin from, miss?"
lara: answer appropriately
cop: "and goin to where?"
lara: answer appropriately
cop: "ok, well, how about you slow down a little and have a nice day!"

for as much as i generally am speeding and not thinking about it, i definitely should have had a couple tickets by now -- why do i always luck out!?!?! (just watch, just because i said that, next time i'll really get a ticket) theories anyone?

a party indeed

scott and me went out for margaritas tonight (don't tell me how apprentice went... i saw joey then recorded the donald while scott and me went to have a chat... i'll see tomorrow)

it was a much needed break/chat/whatever... dinner and drinks done, we went and got ice cream and cookies and read a book at my house...

margarita nights are happy nights :-)

later dudes

getting back

if scott can be weird and start using pet names (see previous post), so can i -- note for colleen to pass him in class today:

"scott baby,

i regret to inform you that I have prior engagements with joey (8-8:30) and the donald (9-10) tonight. i've already had to turn down several other well-meaning sweethearts such as yourself, so don't feel bad -- i'm just in high demand these days.
soooo, darling, if you can convince me you're more important, perchance we can feast and drink tonight. however, if joey and the donald are more convincing, alas you'll have to pine away until tomorrow.

L"

oh man...

what drugs was scott on last night? check out the following:

me: so new life plan
me: wanna hear it?
scott: shoot
me:
    ---: optimal?
    me: ideally how would you get where and on what days?
    ---: I fly to Newark, you take me to car, you get in my car, we drive to NC. after a night or two there, we board a LARGE boat, WITH the car, and go to Spain. drive through france, italy, over toward hungary, where we live.
    me: lol
    ---: with that plan, what days dont matter anymore.
    me: that's a good plan
    ---: because we both, quit our lives.
scott: wow, that's a pretty phat plan, babe
me: lol -- when did you start calling me babe?
scott: hon, i was BORN callin' you babe!
me: (thinks to self....
    option 1; i'm not actually talking to scott
    option 2: scott's on drugs today
    option 3: i've stepped into a parallel universe i've not met before)
me: *scared you away -- hahahaha!*
scott is idle at 1:24:35 AM.
scott is no longer idle at 2:00:44 AM.
scott is away at 2:00:49 AM.
scott returned at 2:03:11 AM.
scott: (oops, sorry dear, i was distracted by mr. billiards)

Auto response from me (i.e. i'd already gone to sleep):
    life plan 1:
    stay in school, pass the qual, get a PhD

    life plan 2 (as per travis):
    ---: I fly to Newark, you take me to car, you get in my car, we drive to NC. after a night or two there, we board a LARGE boat, WITH the car, and go to Spain. drive through france, italy, over toward hungary, where we live.
    ---: with that plan, what days dont matter anymore.
    ---: because we both, quit our lives.
    your vote here:
    night y'all :-P

scott: but now i'm back!!
scott: hey, when were we getting margaritas?
scott: do you want to do it tomorrow night instead?
scott: or was there a reason you couldn't.....i forget
scott: are you still up hunny pie?
scott signed off at 2:47:41 AM.

(that's the first time i've heard him use ANY of the names above.... he's not gonna hear the end of *this* one :-P)

new life plan

---: optimal?
lkp 42 42 42: ideally how would you get where and on what days?
---: I fly to Newark, you take me to car, you get in my car, we drive to NC. after a night or two there, we board a LARGE boat, WITH the car, and go to Spain. drive through france, italy, over toward hungary, where we live.
lkp 42 42 42: lol
---: with that plan, what days dont matter anymore.
lkp 42 42 42: that's a good plan
---: because we both, quit our lives.

sounds good to me! comments, pro or con, anyone?

in record time

new all time personal best for expert level minesweeper: 95 seconds

only 9 seconds short of steve klee's record... i'll beat him again one of these days :-P

states

blue pyramid has another quiz out... here's one of the results i came by more honestly (i played around with answers to see more of the results)

You're Alaska!

You're big, bulky, and extremely wild. At the same time, you're rather
cold and standoffish, even a loner of sorts. Taming you may be one of the last great
quests of the people who do manage to find you or even seek you out. So many of them
just want to plunder you for what you have of value, but there are a few, the ones
who will stick with you, that truly value your rugged remoteness. As long as no one
is spilling stuff on you, you are truly beautiful.


Take the State Quiz
at the Blue Pyramid.

but, one must pay tribute to my other two states too :-)

You're Tennessee!

A vibrantly musical individual, you probably know how to play multiple
instruments. At the heart of your love for music is the guitar, though you have a soft
spot for violins, which you refuse to call anything but fiddles. Fiddlesticks aside,
you are very thin and have excellent posture. If you ever run for elected office, you
won't even be able to get your hometown to support you. I guess that's why they call it
the blues.


Take the State Quiz
at the Blue Pyramid.

You're New Jersey!

You don't just live in the suburbs, you define the culture of all
Surburbia. You drive everywhere you go, love to eat at diners, and pretend to have a
garden. While everyone knows that your house was built on a toxic waste dump, you do
your best to hide this information and keep referring to those mythical gardens.
Driving on a road without paying for it was a revolutionary experience you once had
that you still think about all the time. You owe the Mafia so many favors that you're
thinking of renaming yourself Sicily.


Take the State Quiz
at the Blue Pyramid.

later dudes

case in point

professor during class this afternoon, waiting for someone to answer a question he had just asked
"53,000,000 people... indiana,... rotweillers... shotguns... sorry, random tangent, back to math"

prof (at end of class): "oh good! it's tuesday! now we elect someone new for president tonight!"
student: "that was last week"
prof: "oh, well maybe this is the week they start disattaching the coast states and sinking them into the ocean... watch out... we could be next"

reference previous post...

some people need to freakin GROW UP

(i'm not tired of democrats... i'm tired of people who repeatedly make comments like this whenever they get the chance in the past few weeks.... it's utterly RIDICULOUS)

the end.

reading material

remember how a month or two ago, one of my blog posts helped inspire my friend Josh to write his own post on people being ridiculous in political discussion? well now it's inspired an entire new blog

see here: http://youvelost.blogspot.com/

perfect timing, i'd say, and i love what he's trying to do there.

i voted for bush, yet believe it or not, i think the country would have moved on just fine too if kerry had won. however, i'm tired of hearing how "all the stupid christians, and all the stupid uninformed middle-americans" voted for bush. i can give you a long list of examples of christians and middle-americans who voted for kerry and were ardent supporters of him. -- you CAN'T make a black and white characterization of people.

i think it's odd that so many people voted on "moral values" when you can't legislate morality, but believe it or not there were reasons to vote for bush even if you weren't voting on moral values, and i'm tired of hearing otherwise.

i believe both kerry and bush love america and want good for it; i agreed with more of bush's policies, and i voted on that... america always will need change, but i didn't think kerry was quite the right person to do that right now (agree or disagree with me at will).

what i'm most tired of throughout the past few months is how baby-ish people can be.

case in point.

one of my friends was very down and grumpy for the past week. when i asked some other friends what was up, they claimed "oh, he's frustrated becuase he can't understand why the country voted for bush again, and since he's family's all very pro-bush and he's not, he feels he can't be himself around them", whereas, talking to this friend, he gave a rant similar to the above: he couldn't believe how hard his roommates cheered on election night anti-christians, anti-religion in general, anti-South, anti-any state that went for bush and found it completely ridiculous.

we live in a divided country, you vote for who you think will do the best job (which is different candidates for different people), accept the results, and work together until the next election....

it may be a revelation, but sitting in a corner and skulking and throwing insults at people who disagree with you is NOT productive.

anyhow, long rant short, kudos for josh for the new blog.

the end.

happy(?) tuesday

brother's gone.

the darn kid woke up at 6:30am, woke me up (as per my request) before he left... then remembered he forgot to take my old computer with him so made several loud tromps up and down the stairs to take that before he actually went... it was 7:30 before i was back asleep, but i'm glad he said bye... he'll be down in south carolina visiting mom's brother by the time the day is up, so good for him :-P

last night we went to get thai food (which brother had never had before), and rented "welcome to mooseport", which wasn't like best movie ever, but it was worth seeing once for a laugh.

today promises to be super-long... i'll be at the math building basically from 9:30am til 6:30pm if not longer... ai yai yai... gottta love tuesdays?

i'm making mortal enemies since pizza seminar is a class period earlier than normal this week (as per speaker's request)... doht... it's impossible to please everyone around here.

oh! and i've started registering for classes and for the first time here at RU (out of 4 semesters), i'm actually excited about ALL my classes... taking semester 2 of combo, my advisor's class, a reading class with my advisor, and a class with a new prof on combinatorial commutative algebra... should be a party.

i'm done rambling... it's not like y'all want to know all about names of math grad classes anyhow :-P

later dudes!

:-(

i have a small sty in my left eye... it's been hurting all day... this happens every 5 years or so and it's not fun... three cheers for eye washes?

& etc. :-P

Eysenck's Test Results

Extraversion (52%) medium which suggests you are moderately talkative, outgoing, sociable and interacting. Neuroticism (45%) medium which suggests you are moderately worrying, insecure, emotional, and anxious. Psychoticism (45%) medium medium which suggests you are moderately self interested, willful, and difficult, while still respecting the well being of others.

Take Eysenck's EPQ-R based Personality Test
personality tests by similarminds.com

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

---: brownies with nuts, or without
lkp 42 42 42: ?
lkp 42 42 42: i don't think i've ever had brownies with nuts
---: based on that alone. marry me. lol
lkp 42 42 42: based on that? dude
---: yeah.
---: i prefer no nuts in my brownies.
---: so....
---: you'd never miss them.
lkp 42 42 42: lol...
lkp 42 42 42: see, you've told me even months ago that you've offered to marry dozens of people... suggest enough, how's anyone to know when you're serious?
---: half the fun.
lkp 42 42 42: lol... indeed

the update

i haven't written in a past few days -- my life has actually been somewhat eventful!

thursday:
eric, jared, colleen, leigh, and i saw "miss saigon" at the local playhouse... it was a quality show... unfortuantely i forgot to record joey and apprentice (and hence missed joey getting a girlfriend and raj getting fired), but i dare say it was worth it... a quality time was had by all... and later colleen and i watched "lion king 1 1/2" until late into the night.

friday:
class, pizza seminar, then BROTHER came! we did some moving/fixing furniture, and then fuddruckers for dinner with the people and then eric's orchestra concert, which was made all the more exciting by an unexplained fire alarm during intermission which caused the whole concert hall to be evacuated for 20 minutes while things were fixed... doht! another good night.

today:
brother and me got up early and went to NY... nothing new for me, but he'd never been there before... world trade center site, wall street, brooklyn bridge, staten island ferry (i had 2 sweatshirts on and was freezing cold!), then lunch, central park zoo, rockefeller center, times square, and homeward bound.

colleen's parents are also visiting this weekend, so we came back to group dinner party where colleen's mom had cooked us all lasagna at our house :-) it was fun

after that, ben, leigh, brother, me, and eduardo all went to see "the incredibles" which IS as completely fantastic as all the reviews say... ben's summary?
"little kid bursts into flame -- Lara then jumps sky high... NO outtakes after credits... the end... what a night"

i'll leave it at that... gotta sleep before tomorrow! :-P

night y'all

good news!

an email:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dear Lara,
I am very impressed by your performance in my class, and your computer-whizardy
(and of course math-wizardy). Since Vince and Mohamud expect to graduate in the
Spring, I am looking for new grad students. If you are not committed yet,
and think that you might be interested in choosing me as an advisor, the
algorithm is to sign up for a reading course with me in the spring and start
doing research. If you still have to take core courses, then you can
sign up to my Math587 class, and we can do the reading coures unoficially,
or incorporate it with the course.

Of couse, I perfectly understand if you rather work in different areas,
or with someone else,
but I just thought that I should let you know that I am currently looking for
new students, and, if you are interested, I'll be glad to try working together.

Best wishes
Dr. Z.

[Doron Zeilberger]

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

(lara's note: dr. z. has been my favorite prof at rutgers so far and does math i'm very interested in... i've been trying extra hard in his class so that i could approach him after the january qual about being a potential advisor, but how much cooler is this?!?!?)

more quotes

(because all the excitement in my life is on account of other people)

i'm not making trouble -- i'm making lasagna! ~leigh

---: marry me.
lkp42: ummm... i only accept proposals from people i've spent significantly more than 1 hour around :-P
---: OUCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
---: OUCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
---: that hurts.
---: and i've been shot.. stabbed.. heck, i've been shot in the last WEEK! and THAT. hurt.
lkp42: i didn't say "no"... i said "ask again later" :-P
---: when we do dinner.
---: you can run away with me.
---: we'll stop in at vegas on the way to hungary.
---: the way YOU drive.. that's on the way.
lkp42: lol
---: =))

---: and, i was just eating a salad, for bonus points, i was gonna ask you what dressing you thought i used, since you know me OH SO well.
---: lol
lkp 42 42 42: you're strange :-P
---: ROFL
lkp 42 42 42: i didn't say i could predict those
---: i know it baby!
---: lol
lkp 42 42 42: you think you know *me* well?
---: Understanding you, is like staring into a cloudless night's sky, my dear.
lkp 42 42 42: in other words... no :-P
---: Well.
---: When you stare into the vast depths of the sky.. it seems like you see it all.
---: so many stars.. so much.. space.. *snickers*
lkp 42 42 42: =-O
---: but, you see SOO much, it seems like you see infinity.
---: yet.. any thought at all, tells you there's that much MORE out there.
---: and, even though you think you see a lot, you are just scratching the surface.
lkp 42 42 42: so i can take this as a compliment :-)
---: your mind and personality is deeper than fathomable.
lkp 42 42 42: (i.e. i'm weird ;-))
---: yes, but that's interesting.
---: normal ppl suck.
lkp 42 42 42: lol
---: they are totally uninteresting.
lkp 42 42 42: indeed
---: so, like the sky, i know some patterns.. I understand what would seem like a lot to most ppl. but, I, and anyone with a brain at all to understand people are not just, a few billion stars, but infinate universes of experience and opinion.. understand that this is just the beginning.
---: how's THAT for an answer?
---: *see previous smart and sexy pose, but other side, so that equal tanning is gained from the light in which i bask*
lkp 42 42 42: lol
lkp 42 42 42: fantastic answer
---: and you DENIED my marriage proposal.
---: wow.
lkp 42 42 42: did not deny... defered
---: detained til a later date?
lkp 42 42 42: you never know :-P
---: i'm gonna keep that offer over here.. until i think it's ready to come back to the table.
---: then we'll bring it out with dinner.. and prod it with knives.
---: *snickers*
lkp 42 42 42: dude

my day in quotes

me: and... (series of attempts at speaking)... man, i so meant for that to be in english

brother (calls on the phone)
me: hellooooooo!
brother: so, i can't talk really
me: it was you who called me!
brother: i know... i'm about to order breakfast at mcdonalds... i was just testing my new voicedial, so now i say "la" and my phone calls you!
me: is that how it is?
brother: yup... love... bye!

zeilberger: but you can never trust anyone... not even lara

eric: and then all we heard out of the room was 'for the love of God, let me near my pants!'

john: so lara, i read the email about your brother coming... i scoured the thing... you never ever tell us... what's the kid's name?

me: dude, why can't i solve this problem?
eric: maybe because you wrote a big frown face at the top of the chalkboard?

lkp 42 42 42: i get to have fun then :-)
---: yes.
---: cuz i can tell you the following.
---: I found my car.
lkp 42 42 42: did you?
---: they are putting it on hold for me tomorrow.
lkp 42 42 42: where at?
---: *when the manager gets back in*
---: *detroit*
lkp 42 42 42: awesome
---: and..
---: when i go get it. i'm pickin you up, and you shall run away with me.
lkp 42 42 42: lol
---: also, the snowfall on the south pole is approximately the same as in Atlanta GA. so..
---: so we'll go somewhere warm. lol

(after i won at backgammon for the first time in like a week, and had threatened before the game to never play ever again if tonight went poorly)
---: now you can't quit. i had to have that happen.
---: in fact.. GOD willed the dice not to let me lock you up
---: it's GODS WILL that you play games with me.
---: to fall in luv with me.
---: and eventually run away with me.
lkp42: lol
---: hey, i can't deny God's will