Adventures in the Colonial 'burg: July 2008

Thursday, July 31, 2008

Post-mid-week fizzle

I've been contemplating many things this morning, many of which are not work. This often happens: I am gung-ho Monday through Wednesday, then things just start tapering off toward the weekend. So what do I do? I think about other things. Most of what I'm thinking about have to do with the upcoming fall.

Corbett will be leaving the 'burg in a few weeks. This is no good. But he does have to teach in the fall, and I know he's excited about doing that. Plus there's the whole "New York is better than the 'burg" issue. It's been a good run, but we knew it had to end.

Then there is the teaching I'll be doing. Yes, I'm teaching again in the fall, and there are, so far, only four students in the class. That'll be fine. The only times it's a problem are when one or two of them are there, but no one else. Hmmm.

Multiple trips coming up: Trento, Bonn, Seoul. I'm lukewarm to this.

Job applications are returning. That's right, I just finished the process to start all over again. The first on the list has appeared, so I'm going to start the "make myself look better" process yet again. Go me!

Now I should get back to work.

Monday, July 28, 2008

Road trip

So we're going to embarck on a ridiculous road trip today. We are heading up to DC to have dinner with Ellen. Yup. That's it. A three-hour (one-way, and nominally, if there's–-ha ha--no traffic) drive to have dinner and come home.

What's that? You have problems with this idea?

1) Gas prices are ridiculous! Well, in some sense this is not a big deal. This is a 300-mile trip (total), which is roughly 9 gallons of gas (at most) in my car. Even at the $4.00 a gallon rate (which is not what it is in the 'burg, and I'll do my best to only fill the tank here), that's $36.00. Not too bad. And yes there's the whole "carbon footprint" problem, but I don't drive much as it is, so I should be allowed one major slip up.

2) 6 hours of driving for dinner? Alrighty, you make a good point here, and honestly this was the main stickler. But road trips are fun, and really, this makes a nice change of pace from our daily routine. It gets tiring for every single day to be "go to work, come home, make dinner, watch a movie/TV, go to bed." I like this perfectly-planned-out-spontaneity that happens every so often.

3) Going to our nation's capitol and not staying for a while? How un-American! For this I just say that a) I've been to DC before, b) they are just monuments, c) visiting places like this is only fun when you know someone who lives there, and d) I live in the true birthplace of our nation.

Besides, it's Ellen.

Friday, July 25, 2008

Check...check...check...

I've been having a fairly decent week in terms of work. Not spectacular, but good. Basically I have spent each day slowly checking off the major items on my list of things to accomplish. On this list were two papers that had to be pushed forward by me, and I accomplished that (the nice part of this is that upon completion, it's just a matter of waiting for others). There were some numerical checks that had to be made on some data I had, and I did that. The problem with this task is that it merely means I have to continue forward on that task, but alas. At least I can say one thing is taken care of.

This week was a good one in terms of eating lunch. I ate out two days this week, but brought my lunch the other three. If I keep this up, I will be saving a good 20 to 25 bucks a week in lunches, and that is some incentive.

Let's see, any other mundane things to discuss? Nah. And I won't go into it, but the two people I wanted off got booted last night. Voting does matter when done excessively.

Thursday, July 24, 2008

Ponderings of a 31-year-old teenage girl

It's over. I think I may have to give up on this fight now. For many years I have been fighting these urges, but last night was proof positive that it is just not possible.

I am a screaming teenage girl inside.

It's bad enough that I have always had an unhealthy connection with movies that I love such as "Bring It On," "Can't Hardly Wait," or the older (yet no better?) "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun" (well, don't they?). There is the boy band issue, as well, but both of these things can be ignored, to some extent. At least I have always found a (pseudo) rational explanation.

But if it wasn't bad enough to finally get sucked into American Idol this past season (and wanting the 17-year old to win), as well as "So You Think You Can Dance," we reached a new low last night. It started last week, when we actually voted for contestants multiple times. (Voting already puts us into a new category already, multiple times just makes it a little sad.) This week though, mostly due to the severe depression that struck when Gev was eliminated, we went overboard.

I cannot allow Will to win. I could even handle Mark winning (who won't, but that's another story), but not Will. So I had to vote. I have a favorite, and that is Joshua. For the girls, it's Chelsee (her legs, I swear, are amazing). So we voted for these two. Between the two of us, I think each contestant got around 60-70 votes.

I'm ashamed of this, mostly because of two bitter disappointments:

1. If they lose, then I've invested emotion into them, and I'll be sad. At least if I don't vote, it's not my fault.
2. We only spent 10 or so minutes voting, if that. We had two hours. Why didn't we vote more?!

These issues are going to slowly kill me until tonight, when the awards show airs. I sometimes hate myself.

Wednesday, July 23, 2008

Heart and Seoul

So I'm going to Seoul sometime during the fall semester for a week. A professor there has asked me to give a week-long series of lectures on (wait for it) Staggered Chiral Perturbation Theory. (Don't worry, I can come to your town for the same lectures if you wish.) I've never been, so this will be fun, even if it means that the fall is going to be full of traveling, which I despise in general (and isn't made better by the current pains that come with flying). I'm very much a homebody, and always will be. Given the option of spending a Sunday at home all day or going around doing something, I will most likely like the "stay at home" option.

If I could do my job without ever traveling for workshops, conferences, or talks, I would. But that is an impossibility. So instead I go. Don't get me wrong, I will enjoy it, and it will be a great new adventure. And yet again I can be so far ahead of Ellen time-wise.

Ha!

Monday, July 21, 2008

It's over

I can never be as witty with these posts as Corbett is, so I won't try, just FYI.

It is over though. The conference is over. I'm still not entirely sure what I am supposed to do. The physicists have left town. I don't have to go to the University Center. There are minor things to deal with in the aftermath, but they are minor.

It all went off fairly successfully, I think. My talk went well, and I am glad I scheduled myself on Monday to get it over with. There were glitches here and there but nothing traumatic, and mostly people didn't realize it. I was (not entirely) amazed at how stupid people really are. I was about to say professors, physicists, or academics, but honestly, this stupidity is universal to all. Not to say that everyone is stupid, more like 5-10% (this is my estimate based on the number of people at the conference who were). Also, this is not to say they are stupid, just clueless. Yeah, clueless. Or just plain ol' out of it.

This comment comes from the number of times an announcement would be made, both verbally and written down, and immediately after the verbal announcement, people would come to ask me about whatever it was I just told them. It happened every single time. I guess I should say I wasn't terribly surprised, but given my low tolerance for irritants (shocking, yes, I know, because I am so happy-go-lucky and forgiving), it was enough to fuel the fire that had been burning every morning since 6:30 when I woke up.

But overall, it was a great experience, and I wouldn't trade it for anything. I will also do everything in my power to never organize a Lattice Conference again.

Friday, July 18, 2008

So They Thought Gev Couldn't Dance

I think my gay love affair with So You Think You Can Dance has come to an end.

That's right, Gev, God's gift to Kazakhstan, is gone. I'm so sad. I don't understand, I voted for him like three times. What more could they ask of me? I know that you all watched it, but for those of you without Tivo who happened to run to the kitchen to get a drink or something right at this moment, here is his last performance:

I know, it's a little more Cirque du Soleil than breakdancing, but he's amazing (and adorably diminuitive). What am I going to do now? Poor Gev. The only thing making me feel better is that I get to commiserate with the thirteen-year-old girls on YouTube. I agree with 21Hova21 that "mark should of went home," but freadyflugaflaga had a point that "it was like he was so good at danceing every body thout he was safe so the didnt vote for him." My thoughts exactly.

I should of voted four times.

Sunday, July 13, 2008

The Physicists Cometh

It has begun. Marc arrived last night, and today, most of the 300+ physicists (some with companions) will be swarming the 'burg today. Registration and the opening reception is this evening, from 5pm to 7pm. My talk, which is tomorrow, is almost ready. I want to run through it tonight (it's only 15 minutes, so it's short), and do some more cross-checks, but it's in a good state.

I've been warning people that there will be a noticeable "geek" presence throughout the 'burg, mostly concentrated around the College. Don't eat lunch nearby if you want to be safe from the physicists. That's all I'm sayin'.

Friday, July 4, 2008

Gallows

I have a newfound respect for my neighborhood now. Corbett and his mom where in the Colonial 'burg yesterday, and found something neat out. Part of this I knew, meaning that those convicted during Colonial times of felonies were hanged. Well, while they where there, the tourguide told them that the criminals were taken about a mile outside of town, far away and that is where the gallows were. Corbett asked where this was, and she said, "Ya know where the DMV is?"

His response: "Yeah, right across the street from our apartment."

I live where they hanged criminals!

Thursday, July 3, 2008

Waiting

I'm not a fan of waiting. I am waiting for two codes to finish running. I am waiting for the UPS guy to show up here on campus to deliver eleven 22 pound boxes (the other twenty-four boxes are apparently delayed in Indiana, thus will probably not arrive until Monday, but that's fine). I am waiting for lunchtime to just get here already. I'm waiting for files to transfer over from California (there are a lot, and it'll take a long time). I'm waiting for this Lattice Conference to be over. I'm waiting for yet another disaster to pop up. I'm waiting for someone else to email me begging to be moved to a different time slot even though the printing of the booklets has been completed.

Good times.