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. :)
Wednesday, March 28, 2007
bonus points for...
* friends who leave random "thinking of you" voicemails when they know my research is going slow.
* professors who email me and tell me i do stuff well.
* people who learn random hungarian phrases just to entertain me.
that's all. :)
* professors who email me and tell me i do stuff well.
* people who learn random hungarian phrases just to entertain me.
that's all. :)
random news update:
haven't done this in awhile, but some headlines are just BEGGING to be shared.
here's what started it off:
* Michael Jackson wants Vegas robot -- indeed, a robot is a cool thing. a 50 foot one in anyone's image, a little scary... one that shoots laser lights and roams around a city? dude. i'm glad i've been to vegas PRE-giant robot, because i don't know that i want to meet such a thing!
moving onward:
* German man chainsaws house in two in divorce split -- that's one "creative" way to get what you want... i can't believe he completed the job before someone caught on and stopped him!
...and because Germans apparently do lots of strange things lately, we have:
* Police rescue 91-year-old man glued to roof
this just makes me smile:
* Swords into plowshares, mortars into Frappuccinos -- three cheers for ethiopia.
and finally, as always, science is just plain cool:
* Pressure of Light Can Move Liquid
the end.
here's what started it off:
* Michael Jackson wants Vegas robot -- indeed, a robot is a cool thing. a 50 foot one in anyone's image, a little scary... one that shoots laser lights and roams around a city? dude. i'm glad i've been to vegas PRE-giant robot, because i don't know that i want to meet such a thing!
moving onward:
* German man chainsaws house in two in divorce split -- that's one "creative" way to get what you want... i can't believe he completed the job before someone caught on and stopped him!
...and because Germans apparently do lots of strange things lately, we have:
* Police rescue 91-year-old man glued to roof
this just makes me smile:
* Swords into plowshares, mortars into Frappuccinos -- three cheers for ethiopia.
and finally, as always, science is just plain cool:
* Pressure of Light Can Move Liquid
the end.
Friday, March 23, 2007
my brother, on plants:
(background: my dad is a horticulturist. i wouldn't be a good kid if i didn't try to manage a few well-behaving houseplants. there are currently 3 survivors that i haven't managed to kill off since moving to NJ. 2 of them are a big leafy kind of plant that seem to be able to survive everything, which is great for me. the third is a gasteria... which is an aloe-looking plant that much prefers being dry. most of the time i ignore it when i'm taking care of the others so that it can continue to pretend it's a desert plant. it's still green and happy looking so i figured i was doing alright by it...
then, this morning i woke up and noticed 3 giant stems sticking out of its pot... ok,
strange, maybe seeds from something else fell into the pot, and should be pulled out? upon closer inspection, the stems were coming from the plant itself, sticking out from between its leaves and looking rather incongruous. soooooooooo, i called my brother, who is excellent at explaining things. here's the gist of our dialouge:)
brother: what's up? you called?
me: got a question!
brother: what's that?
me: either my plant is possessed or it's doing something new that i don't know if i should worry about.
brother: which one? what's it doing?
me: the not-a-pothos that looks like an aloe... what is that?
brother: the gasteria?
me: yes! that one. it looked normal yesterday. now there's 3 footlong stalks coming out from the between the leaves. is it possessed? what is it doing?
brother: what you've got there is probably aerial roots.
me: ew, what does that mean?
brother: it means that even though we told you not to water it much because it likes to be dry, the plant is thinking "hmmm, i think i'm mostly happy, but i could use a little more water", so it springs those things out to drink a little more water from the air than you're giving it directly. you can cut them out of the plant if you want and it'll be fine
me: but i thought i watered it often enough, is that all it could be?
brother: well they look like roots sticking up in the air, don't they?
me: no. they look like little heads of broccoli with very long stems.
brother: ooooh, is your plant reddish brown, or is it still green?
me: still green.
brother: ok, well then it's getting ready to bloom which is cool since dad's gasterias have never bloomed. they do it rarely and sporadically.
me: then what's making MY gasteria bloom when i'm not as good as dad with plants.
brother: plants bloom for two reasons.
(1) they get depressed and think they're gonna die. and since they don't sit there and talk to the other plants they think they're the last one left and need to plant some baby plants before they shrivel up and go extinct.
(2) plants get happy and horny and decide they want to make new plants for fun.
it sounds like you have a happy, horny plant.
me: fantastic. will it get depressed when it finds out that it's sitting on a shelf made out of a chalkboard in a window in NJ and that there's nowhere to plant its spawn?
brother: is the plant red or green?
me: green
brother: then it should stay happy. a green plant is a happy plant!
me: and a sprouting plant is a horny plant... fantastic.
brother: yep, pretty much.
(& etc.)
conclusions to draw from this post:
(1) i do NOT have a green thumb or a fundamental understanding of plants.
(2) my brother is freakin hilarious and the best explainer of things ever.
(3) i have a horny plant in my dining room.
happy friday all!
then, this morning i woke up and noticed 3 giant stems sticking out of its pot... ok,
strange, maybe seeds from something else fell into the pot, and should be pulled out? upon closer inspection, the stems were coming from the plant itself, sticking out from between its leaves and looking rather incongruous. soooooooooo, i called my brother, who is excellent at explaining things. here's the gist of our dialouge:)
brother: what's up? you called?
me: got a question!
brother: what's that?
me: either my plant is possessed or it's doing something new that i don't know if i should worry about.
brother: which one? what's it doing?
me: the not-a-pothos that looks like an aloe... what is that?
brother: the gasteria?
me: yes! that one. it looked normal yesterday. now there's 3 footlong stalks coming out from the between the leaves. is it possessed? what is it doing?
brother: what you've got there is probably aerial roots.
me: ew, what does that mean?
brother: it means that even though we told you not to water it much because it likes to be dry, the plant is thinking "hmmm, i think i'm mostly happy, but i could use a little more water", so it springs those things out to drink a little more water from the air than you're giving it directly. you can cut them out of the plant if you want and it'll be fine
me: but i thought i watered it often enough, is that all it could be?
brother: well they look like roots sticking up in the air, don't they?
me: no. they look like little heads of broccoli with very long stems.
brother: ooooh, is your plant reddish brown, or is it still green?
me: still green.
brother: ok, well then it's getting ready to bloom which is cool since dad's gasterias have never bloomed. they do it rarely and sporadically.
me: then what's making MY gasteria bloom when i'm not as good as dad with plants.
brother: plants bloom for two reasons.
(1) they get depressed and think they're gonna die. and since they don't sit there and talk to the other plants they think they're the last one left and need to plant some baby plants before they shrivel up and go extinct.
(2) plants get happy and horny and decide they want to make new plants for fun.
it sounds like you have a happy, horny plant.
me: fantastic. will it get depressed when it finds out that it's sitting on a shelf made out of a chalkboard in a window in NJ and that there's nowhere to plant its spawn?
brother: is the plant red or green?
me: green
brother: then it should stay happy. a green plant is a happy plant!
me: and a sprouting plant is a horny plant... fantastic.
brother: yep, pretty much.
(& etc.)
conclusions to draw from this post:
(1) i do NOT have a green thumb or a fundamental understanding of plants.
(2) my brother is freakin hilarious and the best explainer of things ever.
(3) i have a horny plant in my dining room.
happy friday all!
Tuesday, March 20, 2007
it's gone!!!!
dude, apparently i'm subconsciously in a self-makeover phase this week.
last week, i got a much-needed new pair of glasses. i like myself better with contacts, but it's probably better if i don't have headaches all the time when i'm reading/working at the computer for hours, so alas, i'm back to glasses for at least half the time.
today, i went in to see my hair stylist for the first time since december. for the past 2 years i've just been getting it trimmed... but today, on impulse, i let kelly have fun and take quite a bit more than a trim off. compare me in canada last week:
to me as of an hour ago:
... and react?
last week, i got a much-needed new pair of glasses. i like myself better with contacts, but it's probably better if i don't have headaches all the time when i'm reading/working at the computer for hours, so alas, i'm back to glasses for at least half the time.
today, i went in to see my hair stylist for the first time since december. for the past 2 years i've just been getting it trimmed... but today, on impulse, i let kelly have fun and take quite a bit more than a trim off. compare me in canada last week:
to me as of an hour ago:
... and react?
Thursday, March 15, 2007
o canada, o canada....
...how lovely are my spring break pictures!
and if pictures aren't enough... highlight quotes of the trip include:
me: sometimes i just can't deal with large people in groups
scott: try again, that is NOT what you meant to say.
me: oh, permute that.
o canada, o canada, how lovely are your branches. ~me (frequently, to the tune of o christmas tree)
o canada, o canada, o canada, o canada ~scott (equally frequently, and also to the tune of o christmas tree)
me: dude, did you just use the women's restroom?
scott: god, i hope so.
scott (laughing): dude, lara p., you are drunk
(i don't think anyone else has ever gotten to say that... 2 beers after eating not much else all day makes me entertaining?)
scott: so you're a caustic yet determined non-sequitur?
U.S. customs agent: whose car is this?
me: mine
U.S. customs agent: tennessee? what on earth are you doing in the great white north?
me: it's spring break. canada is fun.
the end. enjoy the pictures.
and if pictures aren't enough... highlight quotes of the trip include:
me: sometimes i just can't deal with large people in groups
scott: try again, that is NOT what you meant to say.
me: oh, permute that.
o canada, o canada, how lovely are your branches. ~me (frequently, to the tune of o christmas tree)
o canada, o canada, o canada, o canada ~scott (equally frequently, and also to the tune of o christmas tree)
me: dude, did you just use the women's restroom?
scott: god, i hope so.
scott (laughing): dude, lara p., you are drunk
(i don't think anyone else has ever gotten to say that... 2 beers after eating not much else all day makes me entertaining?)
scott: so you're a caustic yet determined non-sequitur?
U.S. customs agent: whose car is this?
me: mine
U.S. customs agent: tennessee? what on earth are you doing in the great white north?
me: it's spring break. canada is fun.
the end. enjoy the pictures.
one word survey.
Can.
Only.
Type.
One.
Word.
Not as easy as you might think.
1. Where is your cell phone?
desk
2. Your boyfriend/girlfriend?
nonexistent
3. Your hair?
long
4. Your mother?
kind
5. Your father?
tense
6. Your favorite thing?
travel
7. Your dream last night?
none
8. Your favorite drink?
water
9. Your dream car?
fast
10. The room you're in?
bed
11. Your ex?
nonexistant
12. Your fears?
blindness
13. Where do you want to be in 10 years?
professor
14. Who did you hang out with last night?
scott!
15. What you're not?
partier
16. Muffins?
scones
17. One of your wish list items.
motorcycle
18. Hometown?
memphis
19. The last thing you did?
airport
20. What are you wearing?
comfy
21. Your TV?
background
22. Your pet?
plants
23. Your computer?
full
24. Your life?
intense
25. Your mood?
content
26. Missing?
sleep
27. What are you thinking about right now?
canada!
28. Your car?
reliable
29. Your work?
fun
30. Your summer?
europe!
31. Like someone?
nah
32. Your favorite color?
blue
33. When is the last time you laughed?
today
34. Last time you cried?
weeks
35. School?
forever
Only.
Type.
One.
Word.
Not as easy as you might think.
1. Where is your cell phone?
desk
2. Your boyfriend/girlfriend?
nonexistent
3. Your hair?
long
4. Your mother?
kind
5. Your father?
tense
6. Your favorite thing?
travel
7. Your dream last night?
none
8. Your favorite drink?
water
9. Your dream car?
fast
10. The room you're in?
bed
11. Your ex?
nonexistant
12. Your fears?
blindness
13. Where do you want to be in 10 years?
professor
14. Who did you hang out with last night?
scott!
15. What you're not?
partier
16. Muffins?
scones
17. One of your wish list items.
motorcycle
18. Hometown?
memphis
19. The last thing you did?
airport
20. What are you wearing?
comfy
21. Your TV?
background
22. Your pet?
plants
23. Your computer?
full
24. Your life?
intense
25. Your mood?
content
26. Missing?
sleep
27. What are you thinking about right now?
canada!
28. Your car?
reliable
29. Your work?
fun
30. Your summer?
europe!
31. Like someone?
nah
32. Your favorite color?
blue
33. When is the last time you laughed?
today
34. Last time you cried?
weeks
35. School?
forever
what the world needs is...
we're back... and canada was AWESOME! more pictures/stories later in the week. :)
be parties one and all!
Saturday, March 10, 2007
spring break can only mean...
in 2004...
which, instead of ending with lunch in dover, brought us to maryland,
virginia, and beyond... crossing the chesapeake bay bridge at sunset
running around D.C. in the rain at 11pm
and driving home in a blizzard
until something like 5am. :-P
in 2006...
which included lots of water
lots of rocks
a life-size chocolate moose
and last but not least, a ben and jerry's factory tour
spring break 2007 is at hand...
be parties one and all!
Wednesday, March 07, 2007
can you teach diversity with calculus?
that's the $50 question of the day.
i go to these monthly teaching meetings. there's 7 grad students and a bunch of faculty/dean types. we talk about teaching workshops we've run recently, and then spend an hour talking about teaching issues. last meeting was about why students cheat, today was about the purpose of an undergraduate education.
it's a really cool group of people and i enjoy the discussions, but sometimes i feel like i'm an outsider. the other grad students are english, ecology (2 of them), sociology, french, and italian students, and the other faculty have backgrounds in education and in social sciences. there are occasional comments on how they don't understand engineers, and things like that. on the other hand, i much more relate to the engineers than to the social sciences, so there are points where i have no idea what to say even when asked directly.
case in point: today while discussing the purpose of an undergraduate education the following comments were made:
* "we teaching critical thinking, etc.,etc., with the goal of eventually getting students to do some sort of integrative research. i don't know that you can do this in engineering or math where they deal with the literature, but..."
(i interrupted and said on the surface it looks different but there are analogs of all these concepts in math too)
* "the engineering department says one of its objective to to teach students interpersonal interaction skills"
(the room responded with laughter, i was quiet)
or... on my mind most of all...
* "it's important for students to learn skills to deal with the real world. issues like diversity and time management should enter the classroom. but how do you do that in math, lara?"
to which i commented, "math doesn't open itself up the same way to a discussion of diversity, but then the skills like time management and study skills become even more important."
the sociology grad student said "i disagree. i've commented while running teaching workshops that it could be hard to make your examples come to life in the hard sciences, but my participants who teach physics interrupt and tell how they make concepts into stories of when such-and-such a bridge was built, or whatever. you CAN bring diversity into the classroom with your story problems."
i temporarily shut my mouth and let it lie because i hadn't quite formulated my thoughts at that point, but now, 2 hours later, i've been thinking:
the point of many disciplines is to teach critical thinking about that area. formulate your own opinion and support it. math and engineering are definitely NOT about formulate your own opinion and support it. they're about things that ARE black and white, and understanding where the black and white comes from. while i think it's important to build realistic examples in calculus class, even concrete ones that you can physically play with, i don't think a word problem should open up a discussion of diversity implicitly or explicitly. the point of math is that it is true or false and NOT up to cultural interpretation. i was a little bit shocked that someone from another discpline thought that those issues do belong in the math classroom.
i actually suggested the fundamental differences between math/engineering/hard sciences and the rest of the academic world as our next meeting's discussion topic. we'll see if it happens.
but really, what is the answer? am i closed minded about what the purpose of math class is? are the social scientists too broad in their idea of where social analysis should happen? i don't know.
i just know that i'm constantly amazed both by the insight other people bring to these discussion meetings, but also by the seeming lack of understanding between some disciplines. we shall see...
reactions?
i go to these monthly teaching meetings. there's 7 grad students and a bunch of faculty/dean types. we talk about teaching workshops we've run recently, and then spend an hour talking about teaching issues. last meeting was about why students cheat, today was about the purpose of an undergraduate education.
it's a really cool group of people and i enjoy the discussions, but sometimes i feel like i'm an outsider. the other grad students are english, ecology (2 of them), sociology, french, and italian students, and the other faculty have backgrounds in education and in social sciences. there are occasional comments on how they don't understand engineers, and things like that. on the other hand, i much more relate to the engineers than to the social sciences, so there are points where i have no idea what to say even when asked directly.
case in point: today while discussing the purpose of an undergraduate education the following comments were made:
* "we teaching critical thinking, etc.,etc., with the goal of eventually getting students to do some sort of integrative research. i don't know that you can do this in engineering or math where they deal with the literature, but..."
(i interrupted and said on the surface it looks different but there are analogs of all these concepts in math too)
* "the engineering department says one of its objective to to teach students interpersonal interaction skills"
(the room responded with laughter, i was quiet)
or... on my mind most of all...
* "it's important for students to learn skills to deal with the real world. issues like diversity and time management should enter the classroom. but how do you do that in math, lara?"
to which i commented, "math doesn't open itself up the same way to a discussion of diversity, but then the skills like time management and study skills become even more important."
the sociology grad student said "i disagree. i've commented while running teaching workshops that it could be hard to make your examples come to life in the hard sciences, but my participants who teach physics interrupt and tell how they make concepts into stories of when such-and-such a bridge was built, or whatever. you CAN bring diversity into the classroom with your story problems."
i temporarily shut my mouth and let it lie because i hadn't quite formulated my thoughts at that point, but now, 2 hours later, i've been thinking:
the point of many disciplines is to teach critical thinking about that area. formulate your own opinion and support it. math and engineering are definitely NOT about formulate your own opinion and support it. they're about things that ARE black and white, and understanding where the black and white comes from. while i think it's important to build realistic examples in calculus class, even concrete ones that you can physically play with, i don't think a word problem should open up a discussion of diversity implicitly or explicitly. the point of math is that it is true or false and NOT up to cultural interpretation. i was a little bit shocked that someone from another discpline thought that those issues do belong in the math classroom.
i actually suggested the fundamental differences between math/engineering/hard sciences and the rest of the academic world as our next meeting's discussion topic. we'll see if it happens.
but really, what is the answer? am i closed minded about what the purpose of math class is? are the social scientists too broad in their idea of where social analysis should happen? i don't know.
i just know that i'm constantly amazed both by the insight other people bring to these discussion meetings, but also by the seeming lack of understanding between some disciplines. we shall see...
reactions?
my eyeballs are going to explode...
... seriously.
well, not quite but almost.
90 some percent of the time, i enjoy being a grad student. however a LARGE part of my research is working on the computer and programming. this does not do wonders for my vision. my eyes are dry a lot, especially when i work with my contacts in.... actually, for the past week, i've had a perpetual dull headache, centered around my eyes, and exacerbated by time spent doing the computer programming i need to get done.
so alas, this morning, i went in for my yearly eye exam. i wanted new glasses (my current ones are 7 years old and i rarely wear them because they're out of date and so scratched up). i expected the eye doctor to comment as usual on how dry my eyes are anymore, but other than talking about which of the over-the-counter eye drops are the most useful, that wasn't the big exciting result of this visit.
whenever you go for an eye checkup, they check the pressure in your eye with the air puff machine. the fluid pressure inside a normal eye is 10-21 whatever-they-measure-it-ins. my eye fluid pressure has always been on the high end of the spectrum... occasionally 22 or 23, but today i set a record: 26! (ocular hypertension... woohoo...). the eye doctor ran the test 3 times to be sure, then decided to do it the old school way (put neon orange dye in my eyes and then poke at them with a different machine) to confirm. presently this means nothing except that i'm high risk for other eye issues down the way (e.g. glaucoma), which would totally suck.
for now though, i just get to enjoy a perpetual dull ache that only gets worse when i do what i'm supposed to. if my eyes would actually explode, perhaps it would hurt less!
the end.
well, not quite but almost.
90 some percent of the time, i enjoy being a grad student. however a LARGE part of my research is working on the computer and programming. this does not do wonders for my vision. my eyes are dry a lot, especially when i work with my contacts in.... actually, for the past week, i've had a perpetual dull headache, centered around my eyes, and exacerbated by time spent doing the computer programming i need to get done.
so alas, this morning, i went in for my yearly eye exam. i wanted new glasses (my current ones are 7 years old and i rarely wear them because they're out of date and so scratched up). i expected the eye doctor to comment as usual on how dry my eyes are anymore, but other than talking about which of the over-the-counter eye drops are the most useful, that wasn't the big exciting result of this visit.
whenever you go for an eye checkup, they check the pressure in your eye with the air puff machine. the fluid pressure inside a normal eye is 10-21 whatever-they-measure-it-ins. my eye fluid pressure has always been on the high end of the spectrum... occasionally 22 or 23, but today i set a record: 26! (ocular hypertension... woohoo...). the eye doctor ran the test 3 times to be sure, then decided to do it the old school way (put neon orange dye in my eyes and then poke at them with a different machine) to confirm. presently this means nothing except that i'm high risk for other eye issues down the way (e.g. glaucoma), which would totally suck.
for now though, i just get to enjoy a perpetual dull ache that only gets worse when i do what i'm supposed to. if my eyes would actually explode, perhaps it would hurt less!
the end.
