UW (not!) Update and Short Backlog Sunday 6/14/15

1.     UW (not!) Update and Short Backlog Sunday 6/14/15

a.     The last three days were eventful.

b.     On Thursday I woke late, but decided to try to make a chess piece at the machine shop. Spent hours relearning lathe stuff and figuring out how to use the new tools I needed. Wanted to meet Johan for a run, but kept pushing the run time forward as I struggled. I was almost finished when I mangled a cut on the bandsaw and had to repair it. Ended up with a horribly messed-up piece that I was still immensely proud of, only to find Johan had assumed I was at Haggett and had come down to find me. Was super annoyed at myself for not messaging him in the throes of frustration. Starving, delirious with thirst, and covered (at least I felt covered) in machine oil and aluminum chips, I ordered the last two slices of pizza from the Pag. Moved Xin and his backpack into 621—he had been forced to move out early, but wanted to stay a few days longer. Took a run and showered. Then I went out to dinner with Jasdeep. Hopefully I’ll see him at a Bham MTG prerelease. Then I returned to the dorm, ran into Xin and Joey, and played videogames until late into the night at the HUB. Then, as Xin and I were returning, Tina asked us if we wanted to go grab ice cream. I got Ben and Jerry’s with my dining account money, but those shmids, having exhausted theirs, had us walk all the way to QFC. I got some apples. We chatted for a long time in the Haggett lounge after returning.

c.      On Friday, I ran with Johan early, practiced for Glee rehearsal at Husky Stadium, went to rehearsal, ate lunch, packed, and rushed to West Campus, where I boarded the 72x to the international dist. Station, walked to the Greyhound station, and turned in my 7-11 receipt in exchange for passage to Bham. Arrived there around 5pm. Mom picked me up and dropped me off at the Coopers’, where 6 other boys were celebrating Joseph’s birthday with Magic and badminton and Halo. I ran with Brennan around the block and did some scootering, which dredged up many fond memories of blistering speed and scraped knees and joy. Everyone was having so much fun that we stayed up until 2 am, finishing up with a new game called CamelUp where players bet on a camel race. Lots of interesting mechanics—I thought it was very cool.

d.     Woke to Halo being played over my prone body. Breakfasted and played more badminton. Showered. Got picked up at 1:15 and hurried back to campus, where I met Xin to get my room key by Husky Stadium, then went into the “Touchdown Terrace”, where the Glee Club was practicing, playing cards, and goofing off. Drilled “Song of Washington” until I was confident I wouldn’t screw it up, then played cards with Wesley and Eric. We walked out into the stadium and sang, concluding the UW commencement ceremony.

e.     Returned to Hag 621 for the last time. Mom and Dad had finished their errand and helped me pack and clean. After a lifetime of moves, this one seemed trivial. Got room-inspected. Checked out the 8^th floor where I’ll be living next year; all the dorm rooms were wide open, so it was fun to poke around. Checked in my keys at the desk and bid farewell.

f.      Returned home. Lounged around reading, then went to sleep.

g.     Today: Slept in, did more reading. Ate family breakfast. Moved all my stuff in from the car and began moving furniture back and forth from Mary’s downstairs room to my upstairs one, which used to be hers.

h.     Picked strawberries at Boxx Berry! Great day for it, and the berries were superb.

i.       I can’t talk about the next part of the day because Izzy would be annoyed with me for spilling the beans.

j.       Returned home, did more reading. Finished The Boys in The Boat. Went up on the roof with the sisters—it’s lovely up there. I’ll be going up on the roof to read often, probably before sunset when the air is chilly but the heat radiates off the shingles.

k.     Ate a delicious family dinner with Grandma. Topped it off with strawberries and ice cream.

l.       Wrote email to Grace and Monica about homeschool classes.

m.   Read Karenina for two hours. Downloaded the entire soundtrack from World of Goo, a simple, charming videogame with awesome music I’d played some years ago. Moved more bookcases from downstairs to upstairs.

n.     Wrote this log, took a short walk, and went to bed.

UW Update Wednesday 6/10/15

1.     UW Update Wednesday 6/10/15

a.     Highlights: Physics final. Went ok. Had to guess on a few of the numerous questions.

b.     Ate lunch with Winnie. More interesting philosophy/readings conversation. I showed up a bit early in the HUB and perused the used book tables—there’s a new Jared Diamond book that aligns very closely with my interest in looking at hunter-gatherer societies to find ways that modern societies aren’t optimized for our evolutionary wiring. I also found this crazy book, “On the origins of consciousness in the split of the bicameral mind”, advocating a seemingly absurd thesis that one reviewer summed up as “humans before about 2000 BC were in a trance state receiving orders from imagined gods”. But several very credible reviewers praised the argument even as they doubted the conclusion, including the New Yorker. So I looked it up on Amazon, where many intelligent-sounding people were calling it one of the most profound and thought-provoking books they’d read in a while. (Tom, have you read this?). Crazy! I’ll have to add it to my list.

c.      Returned to Haggett, texted Xin, and we went to the IMA pool for a swim. We swam and messed around for about an hour (I actually managed to dive headfirst off the diving board. I just sort of mindfully fell in and was not hesitant and uncomfortable as I’d been in the past. Weird. Then we headed to the outdoor courtyard and lay in the sun. So nice!

d.     Returned to Haggett, then down to CENPA. Helped Garcia, Max, Zezhou Jin set up tables and stuff. Aaron showed up with Spencer Pease and a car, and we zipped over to QFC and bought patties and fixin’s. Returned, Aaron driving like a lunatic in his ratty but obviously well-cared for “soul car”. Fired up the grill, cut the veggies, grabbed stuff from Haggett and the kitchen; it was 30 minutes into the party before I allowed myself to relax. It went well, but I think I could have been a little more present J Ate, headed into the labs to get a picture with the accelerator. Headed back out for more pics, a short violin concert from our class’s resident Music major. People slowly trickled out; I got more signatures on the card I made for Garcia and then gave it to him. Hugs all around J

e.     Finally packed everything away. I have a ton of mayo and tomatoes now J

f.      Returned to Haggett, then left with Xin to an EE classroom with a big screen. Xin hooked up his computer and we tried to watch a movie—but Netflix didn’t trust the projector-computer connection. Xin debated pirating it, but worried about doing so over the university network. So we fired up HBO GO and watched Grand Budapest Hotel. Very impressive cinematography, but weird, nonsensical plot.

g.     Retired to Haggett. Ran into Issa and chatted for a bit. Returned to room and ate Nutella and oatmeal while reading Karenina. Checked email, etc. Wrote this log and hit the hay.

UW Update Tuesday 6/9/15

1.     UW Update Tuesday 6/9/15

a.     I’ll keep it short b/c physics final tomorrow. Highlights:

b.     Found out I utterly pwned my CSE final. Utterly.

c.      Ate lunch with the Coopers! Chatted about WCC and first-person shooters.

d.     Did more work in Haggett.

e.     Made Professor Garcia a card. Went down to office hours and surreptitiously got everyone to sign it.

f.      Did more work, then ate dinner with Jasdeep.

g.     Studied more for physics.

h.     Wrote this log and went to bed.

UW Update Monday 6/8/15

1.     UW Update Monday 6/8/15

a.     Woke at 7:30. Showered and headed to linear final. Got there early to partake of the breakfast that our awesome postdoc offered. Nobody was there yet. Annie arrived with homemade bread and Nutella and muffins. Those of us that were there ate and helped move chairs around. More people arrived and took their seats; I walked around the back with a bag of muffins. Surprisingly few takers.

b.     Sat down and took the test. Went very well as far as I could tell, although the timing was relatively tight. Finished a 110-minute test with about 10 minutes to spare.

c.      Talked with Annie for a bit.

d.     Returned to dorm with Winnie. She thought she’d messed the test up, so I took out my Frisbee to take her mind off it J. We passed the Frisbee back and forth until we reached McMahon, where her novice toss dropped the Frisbee off the treacherous, ivy-covered, cliff-like, spider-infested hillside. We were unable to find it J

e.     Returned to Haggett. Worked on CSE note sheet. Emailed Garcia. Had a long text conversation with Johan about various practice problems.

f.      Met Hannah, who I hadn’t seen all quarter long for lunch in the HUB. We took our food outside. She’s been doing well-taking 20 credits this quarter. Just got into the History major. And—whaddaya know—she’s considering trying to do something with CS. Crazy. I guess her boyfriend is a CS nerd who just transferred here to apply to the major.

g.     Parted ways. Ran into Jacob (W?) I know three Jacobs. He was messing around with derivations in calculus—brought back great memories from 1-2 years ago. Ran into Ayush. Talked about thermo, finals.

h.     Headed to the Research Commons. Finished CSE note sheet. Packed and walked to Miller. At the entrance, hesitated to soak up the sun, then stepped through the doors.

i.       Said hi to the 311 crew. A lot of them will be joining me in 312 and 332 next quarter, which should be fun.

j.       As James passed out the exams and silence fell, we became aware of the sweaty humidity in the room. It was oppressive. Images of damp paper sliding over clammy hands filled my mind.

k.     The test was hard, but I think I did fine. Finished everything with under 10 minutes to spare, as before.

l.       Talked a bit, said goodbye to the crew. Returned to Haggett. Relaxed, went through remaining emails and menial stuff.

m.   Headed to Denny and got into a game of 21 that stretched on at least an hour as none of us could get the game-winning free throw. Adjourned for games of 3-on-3 and 5-on-5 as more people arrived. The last game was really intense—the “try-hards” had arrived.

n.     Returned to dorm soaked. Took a shower, then met Chase for dinner in the 8. Took food outside. Talked about the upcoming campaign, big organizations, and anime. Finished our conversation in the Haggett lounge stairwell as per custom.

o.     At this point, my analytical brain, my social brain, and my body are all equally exhausted. I lie on the bed and read Karenina for about an hour and eat apple slices with Nutella.

p.     Skype with Mom and Dad. Finalize move-out plans.

q.     Write this log, take a walk, and go to bed.