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[30 Aug 2008|01:27am] |
Underwater hockey is one of the possible trial sports for the 2012 Olympics.
I played underwater hockey yesterday.
Maybe the greatest sport ever invented.
Maybe.
Except for the part where you're body-checking people wearing Speedos.
Maybe that'll become less awkward for me as I play more.
Maybe.
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[29 Aug 2008|03:51am] |
If you've never been to a party with over 5000 people in attendance... I recommend that you don't. It's simply too much.
And I have to be awake in five hours. Nuts.
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| This is gonna be a sweet year |
[26 Aug 2008|07:46pm] |
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mood |
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accomplished |
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music |
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Kamelot - The Haunting |
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My schedule:
1st quarter
Fundamentals of photonics
Quantum optics
Biomedical optics
2nd quarter
Interaction of light and molecules
Non-linear optics
Nano-optics
3rd quarter
Laser physics
Experimental laser physics and nonlinear optics
Integrated optics
OR
Advanced quantum mechanics
4th quarter
Internship. If all goes well, as a study-abroad from the Netherlands, possibly to Barcelona.
Nice.
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| Graduation: t-plus one month |
[18 Jul 2008|01:43am] |
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music |
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Nightwish - Amaranth |
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My summer so far:
-Kate visited for a week and a half. There was much fun had, including jumping out of planes, scaling walls, and hitting up the beautiful downtown Portland.
-Completed all paperwork and requirements for grad school. All that needs to happen now on that front is packing.
-Signed up for membership and have been climbing at a rock gym three or four times per week since June. Many calluses lost after rowing ended have returned. I am quite pleased with this. Kendra climbs there too. Double win.
-Working towards a class-A skydiving license. Still need quite a few jumps, but it'll happen. If it doesn't... well, there are 15 places in the Netherlands that have jumping.
-Spent an entire day paintballing on 40 acres of wooded hills. Shot about 20 people, was shot 6 or 7 times. K/D > 1 is a good day.
-Perl/C++ much? Yeah. Nerdcore still needs to happen.
-Feverishly trying to learn Dutch. Not happening as easily as I would have liked.
-Physics. Of course. 'Nuff said about that.
-Rebuilding a number of friendships that have slowly eroded over the years. Man, people have been leading some really interesting lives. Lawrence bubble for the win, I guess.
-Jumped off the roof of my house, on purpose, more than once. Injuries: possibly a shingle.
-Forecast for the average day: busy, with a 40% chance of dumb. I am done with Rule Number 1. Hah!
Sometimes, when life starts acting up and whining about how much it thinks it sucks, you have to just slap it into line. Drive, determination, fortitude, courage. Make it happen.
Ten-four.
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[06 May 2008|07:52am] |
Market investment is quite a fascinating topic that I know pitifully little about.
Well, another project for the summer, I guess. Already on the list: free-running, aikido/ninjitsu/systema(?), marksmanship (rifle and pistol), skydiving, Dutch.
Shaping up to be a good summer.
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[07 Apr 2008|07:30pm] |
With the inclusion of all of my figures and citations, my honors thesis just broke 40 pages.
Single-spaced.
10-point font.
Yikes.
I guess it's a good thing that I have another month to finish this bugger. I don't even know how much more I'm going to write, and proofreading is going to be narsty.
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[02 Mar 2008|04:45pm] |
1. Put your music player on Shuffle.
2. List the titles of the first 25 songs to come up.
3. Put "in my pants" after each title.
4. Bold the ones that actually made you laugh.
( Some things don't belong in my pants... )
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[23 Jan 2008|11:55pm] |
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There aren't nearly enough spontaneous acts of fun on this campus, and I'm bored out of my mind. You do the math.
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[01 Jan 2008|09:55am] |
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mood |
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jetlagged |
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music |
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Twilightning - Plague-house Puppet Show |
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1. What did you do in 2007 that you'd never done before?
Lived abroad. Went skydiving. Rowed a full season. Won medals through rowing.
2. Did you keep your new years' resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
I don't make resolutions. They're too easy to forget and break. I just try to better myself every year without setting goals.
3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
...no? I really don't know, I've been too displaced.
4. Did anyone close to you die?
Nah, but a lot of Lawrentians seem to be kicking various buckets as of late...
5. What countries did you visit?
Nederlands, Italia, Deutschland, Egypt, Belgie/Belgique, South Carolina.
6. What would you like to have in 2008 that you lacked in 2007?
Fairness. None of this politically-correct discrimination bullshit.
7. What date from 2007 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
August 1; I stepped onto Dutch soil, smiled, and realized how very lucky I was.
8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
Impressing the professors at Twente enough for them to offer me a graduate school position without me formally applying.
9. What was your biggest failure?
I wasn't able to maintain a lot of the friendships that helped me get through 2006.
10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
Yes. Even the doctors don't know what the hell is wrong with me.
11. What was the best thing you bought?
My Dutch residency visa.
12. Whose behavior merited celebration?
My boss at Twente, Jennifer, and her secretary, Karen. They put so much on the line and gave so much effort to have me in Enschede that I still can't believe it.
13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?
Above and beyond everyone else, Andrew Siliski.
14. Where did most of your money go?
Living in the Netherlands.
15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
My research project at Twente. It wasn't like a job at all... it was more like a game, a puzzle, that I was getting paid to solve.
16. What song will always remind you of 2007?
Duel of the Fates from Star Wars: Episode II. If there was one song that could get the Praetorians riled up, that was it.
17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
i. happier or sadder?: Much happier. No question.
ii. thinner or fatter? Thinner, but not by much.
iii. richer or poorer? Richer. Salaries in Euros are just worth more at modern exchange rates.
18. What do you wish you'd done more of?
Actively learn Dutch. What I know I just picked up from reading papers and listening to people talk, so I can't speak or write it worth crap.
19. What do you wish you'd done less of?
Complain. I found myself complaining a lot, even over little things, and it really upsets me in hindsight.
20. How did you spend Christmas?
Wandering around Cairo, Egypt with my family. We did manage to find a place that served an authentic American turkey dinner, though the rest of our meals were distinctly Egyptian.
22. Did you fall in love in 2007?
Yes. I never stop falling in love, though occasionally I'll catch myself and stumble into a puddle of like instead.
23. How many one-night stands?
Nil.
24. What was your favorite TV program?
Comedy Central News. It's Dutch news the American way. Hilarious.
25. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year?
Absolutely.
26. What was the best book you read?
I don't remember reading a single book cover-to-cover, but I've been reading through the Feynman lectures from time to time, and those always fascinate me.
27. What was your greatest musical discovery?
Kamelot.
28. What did you want and get?
Recognition for a few of my major accomplishments.
29. What did you want and not get?
Recognition for the energy and effort I put into my projects and jobs, especially with regard to ResLife.
30. What was your favorite film of this year?
300, for oh-so-many reasons.
31. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
I went to class, did homework, and studied. I hate celebrating my birthday, and the 21st was no different.
32. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
Read #29.
33. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2007?
Spandex.
34. What kept you sane?
Being able to make change happen, whether by myself or with the help of others.
35. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
Ron Paul. Though I don't agree with him on about half of his political stances, I respect him so much for being consistent in his beliefs.
36. What political issue stirred you the most?
Education. No Child Left Behind is simply one of the worst things that has ever happened to this country.
37. Who did you miss?
A whole lot of Lawrentians. Y'all know who you are.
38. Who was the best new person you met?
Herman Offerhaus. Not only is he freaking brilliant, but he is hands down one of the nicest and funniest people I've ever met.
39. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2007:
When life hands me a lemon, kick its ass; I ordered the tiramisu, bitch. I will settle for nothing less.
40. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year:
Once, I had a dream,
and this is it.
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[18 Dec 2007|06:27pm] |
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music |
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Sinner - Beds are Burning |
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And now, a public service announcement:
Statistically speaking, there are two popes per square kilometer in Vatican City.
Carry on.
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[12 Dec 2007|07:58pm] |
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music |
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Delain - The Gathering |
] |
I've now been in the Netherlands for a little under four and a half months, and will soon be leaving for week-long excursions to Egypt and Portland before heading back to Lawrence. During my time here, I've learned more than in any previous equivalent stretch in my entire life. Looking to the future, I'm starting to realize that I have almost no time left before I have to start making some pretty serious decisions that will certainly affect where my life goes.
Though I'm really sad to be leaving the Netherlands, I'm really excited to be back at Lawrence.
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[26 Nov 2007|06:43pm] |
It will be a very long time before I go back to Italy on my own initiative. If someone wants to send me there for business or research, fine, but there better be someone else organizing everything, because I'm sick of dealing with the crap in that country. And to think that the purpose of going there was to relax...
It's good to be back in the Netherlands, but I can't wait to get back to Lawrence. As emo as it sounds, I miss having friends. Not that I'm particularly excited about being in the States again, but it's a little difficult to pick up a whole university and move it overseas.
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[19 Nov 2007|06:57pm] |
Berlin, Zuid Limburg (Valkenberg en de Drielandenpunt), Utrecht, Venezia, Firenze.
What a month. Details? Maybe. Depends on whether or not you enjoy "academic" journal entries.
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[23 Oct 2007|12:34am] |
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For lack of a recent (and substantial) post, and for the fact that I have time on my side, I've decided to actually give notice to the world (e.g. my few friends) as to what I've been up to on this side of the Prime Meridian. I'll break it down into sections, for those who don't want the whole schpiel.
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( My social life )
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( Read more... )
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( My rowing life )
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( My travels )
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( My Dutch integration )
If you've managed to make it through all of that, I'm impressed both at the amount of free time you have and your patience. I'm sure that there are things that I've forgotten, but there will be future updates.
Groeten uit het Nederlands!
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[25 Sep 2007|08:53pm] |
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I got accepted to grad school today, and yet I'm more motivated than ever to do really well on the GREs now. Does that make any sense?
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[26 Jul 2007|11:53pm] |
Jumped out of a perfectly good airplane today. Fell 13,000 feet.
Jumping twice tomorrow.
Gotta make sure to watch that first step. It's a doozy.
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