The last leg of my flight to AZ was an interesting one. Almost the entire time I could look out my window and see distant lightning in the clouds. The turbulence was a little intense at times as well. And seeing Phoenix from the air was amazing, lights as far as the eye can see. Apparently it's the second most populated city in the US.
My first day in AZ was fun. Brunch at a nice cafe where I got an "Egg Sammie," or eggs (I chose scrambled) with my choice of other things, of which I chose provolone, ham, and bacon, on an everything bagel. With coffee. Definitely satisfying.
Then I printed out the first revision (second version) of my book. I love having a physical copy, it makes how much work I've done on it feel so much more real. I also got new pens to commemorate. Now I can really get the second edit started.
The highlight of the evening was a Japanese restaurant. It was odd though, since I ate sushi beside a fish tank. Eating fish. It felt a bit cruel, like I was making them watch me eat their brothers. Nevertheless, it was delicious. Also, my mom is getting to know the owner of the place through an interesting networking connection, and so she let us try a bit of one of her specialties for free: the darker meat of a tuna cooked in a teriyaki-type sauce. Very tasty.
Tomorrow will probably be more reading and writing, with some more delicious food. Perhaps Mexican in the evening. Haven't had a decent burrito in months.
Also, the heat hasn't been unbearable yet, but could be by the end of the week.
5.23.2011
5.22.2011
When In Philly...
I'm now at Philadelphia Airport, finishing my first ever Philly cheesesteak. I feel a bit sick, though it tasted good. The first thing I noticed after leaving the plane was the humidity, despite the temperature not being that high. This didn't make the coffee I got at the cheesesteak place any more enjoyable. I maybe should have bought a cold drink.
The flight was long but not horrible. I got very few hours of sleep last night so I kept dozing off... only to be repeatedly woken up by flight attendants asking me if I wanted a drink or a snack. I kept thinking I'd fallen asleep for an hour or so, but slowly realized it was only half-hour spurts. The flight was about 7 hours when I mistakenly thought it was going to be 5. I've got one more flight in 6 hours that's 5 hours long. I'll be happy when I arrive in AZ.
One thing I was confused about on the plane was when they ask you to turn off all electronics, "anything with an on/off switch." Is this strictly necessary? Isn't the problem cell phone interference rather than say, a kindle (with wifi turned off, even)? Is this some sort of way around explaining exactly why we need to turn off electronics, for the people whom it would confuse?
Also, as is expected these days, I'm getting annoyed by how many stages of security there are. In Glasgow I went through regular security and had someone ask me if "anyone had given me bags to carry," etc. Then when I got to Philadelphia, I had to go through immigration, take my bag from baggage claim, go through customs, give someone my bag to put on the plane to AZ, and go through regular security again. I just walked off a plane! How am I going to acquire anything dangerous between the plane and security?
Frustrations aside, now I've got plenty of time to chill. I think I'll either do some Fill-In puzzles, read, or take advantage of this free wifi and continue with Project Euler.
The flight was long but not horrible. I got very few hours of sleep last night so I kept dozing off... only to be repeatedly woken up by flight attendants asking me if I wanted a drink or a snack. I kept thinking I'd fallen asleep for an hour or so, but slowly realized it was only half-hour spurts. The flight was about 7 hours when I mistakenly thought it was going to be 5. I've got one more flight in 6 hours that's 5 hours long. I'll be happy when I arrive in AZ.
One thing I was confused about on the plane was when they ask you to turn off all electronics, "anything with an on/off switch." Is this strictly necessary? Isn't the problem cell phone interference rather than say, a kindle (with wifi turned off, even)? Is this some sort of way around explaining exactly why we need to turn off electronics, for the people whom it would confuse?
Also, as is expected these days, I'm getting annoyed by how many stages of security there are. In Glasgow I went through regular security and had someone ask me if "anyone had given me bags to carry," etc. Then when I got to Philadelphia, I had to go through immigration, take my bag from baggage claim, go through customs, give someone my bag to put on the plane to AZ, and go through regular security again. I just walked off a plane! How am I going to acquire anything dangerous between the plane and security?
Frustrations aside, now I've got plenty of time to chill. I think I'll either do some Fill-In puzzles, read, or take advantage of this free wifi and continue with Project Euler.
5.21.2011
Freedom
Exams are over. It's a strange feeling, since I've felt the burden of either assignments, dissertation writing, or exam studying since September. So strange, in fact, that I had to start working on something again. I chose to start reviewing the C++ programming language since I'll probably be using it in my internship in a couple of weeks.
I'm reviewing it using the problems on Project Euler. It's a set of math-based problems that are too complex to easily solve on paper or with a simple calculator, and so programming is the best way to go about solving them. One reason people do the problems is to learn new programming languages, and so I thought it would be useful to use. I started doing them a few months ago to learn Python, and got to problem 5. There are over 300 in total. Over the past 24 hours or so, I've done the first 5 again in C++. It must be my way of dealing with studying withdrawal. Or perhaps I'm tired of learning theory and am ready to apply my knowledge. Either way, I feel fairly productive and have had fun.
On the left sidebar of my blog you can see a picture from the Project Euler site depicting my progress. I'm not sure how much programming I'll do over the next few weeks, but you'll most likely see that number go up over the course of the summer.
Tomorrow morning I leave for the US. I might manage a blog when I have my hopefully pain-free 7 hour layover in Philadelphia.
I'm reviewing it using the problems on Project Euler. It's a set of math-based problems that are too complex to easily solve on paper or with a simple calculator, and so programming is the best way to go about solving them. One reason people do the problems is to learn new programming languages, and so I thought it would be useful to use. I started doing them a few months ago to learn Python, and got to problem 5. There are over 300 in total. Over the past 24 hours or so, I've done the first 5 again in C++. It must be my way of dealing with studying withdrawal. Or perhaps I'm tired of learning theory and am ready to apply my knowledge. Either way, I feel fairly productive and have had fun.
On the left sidebar of my blog you can see a picture from the Project Euler site depicting my progress. I'm not sure how much programming I'll do over the next few weeks, but you'll most likely see that number go up over the course of the summer.
Tomorrow morning I leave for the US. I might manage a blog when I have my hopefully pain-free 7 hour layover in Philadelphia.
5.19.2011
Quick Update
In 17 hours, I'll be done with my exams. Yes, I have a countdown. I've studied everything at least vaguely, and feel moderately confident about my last exam. I could be wrong, but we'll see tomorrow. So I'm going to focus on the fun stuff.
Right after the exam, partying will be had, all night. Not sure where or doing what yet but the day will be epic fun. Which means I may have to skip the blog tomorrow if I don't end up by a computer. Sunday, off to AZ for sun and red rock and reading and writing. Then come back and move to a new flat and start a fun internship. Things are finally going to be good. I just have to concentrate until 3:30pm tomorrow.
When my worries are not studying anymore, I'll hopefully find it easier to come up with things to blog about.
Right after the exam, partying will be had, all night. Not sure where or doing what yet but the day will be epic fun. Which means I may have to skip the blog tomorrow if I don't end up by a computer. Sunday, off to AZ for sun and red rock and reading and writing. Then come back and move to a new flat and start a fun internship. Things are finally going to be good. I just have to concentrate until 3:30pm tomorrow.
When my worries are not studying anymore, I'll hopefully find it easier to come up with things to blog about.
~
Exams to go: 1
Last song played: Tegan and Sara - Burn Your Life Down
5.18.2011
Kirby
I don't write that much about video games, as I'm afraid it will alienate some of my audience. I'm suddenly inspired to though, from a Kirby pin (which I got at the PAX gaming convention in Seattle last fall) on my bulletin board. I should write about games more often though, since I enjoy them. If you play video games you'll likely know all this, and can read with nostalgia. If you don't, these are classic games worth checking out.
Kirby, if you don't know, is a little creature featured in many Nintendo games. His main 'power' (across all games) is sucking air in around him, which in turn makes him swallow nearby enemies and acquire their powers. I first encountered him in the game Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards, when I was young and the Nintendo 64 was still popular. My friend owned the console and almost every time I went to visit her we'd play something on it, frequently this game. Kirby has to search for these crystal shards in order to save the world and win the game. Along the way he encounters enemies, which he steals powers from and uses them against other enemies. It had fun minigames too.
That game was probably the reason I choose Kirby so often in the much more recent Super Smash Bros. games. In addition to the power I mentioned, in this game (and possibly others I haven't played) he can also fly and turn into a rock. These are best utilized by combining the two, and then dropping onto an enemy. This can cause quite a bit of annoyance and frustration to other players. I played Super Smash Bros. Brawl a lot at my dorm in Canada with friends on my Wii. Sadly it's too bulky to easily bring to Scotland. Perhaps one day.
~
Exams to go: 1
Last song played: The Presidents of the USA - Peaches
5.17.2011
Bogged Down By Exams
Finally, one of my three last exams done. Next one tomorrow morning, a day break, and then the last one. Studying has been intense, but stressing even more so. I'm bad for that.
I can't really be bothered thinking of a proper blog topic. It's late, and I want to play a game to de-stress before bed. Maybe Team Fortress 2. Found it fun a month or two ago, but haven't really played it since I started playing League of Legends. Which is rather addicting, even though it only has one map for 5v5 and one for 3v3. Apparently another 5v5 is in production, but it has been for quite a while. Another map, please, we don't need more champions. There are enough to memorize how to play with and against already.
Sorry to say that's all I have the energy for tonight. I'll be more creative next week. My brain is too full of Networked Systems. At least I'm keeping up the daily blog thing.
I can't really be bothered thinking of a proper blog topic. It's late, and I want to play a game to de-stress before bed. Maybe Team Fortress 2. Found it fun a month or two ago, but haven't really played it since I started playing League of Legends. Which is rather addicting, even though it only has one map for 5v5 and one for 3v3. Apparently another 5v5 is in production, but it has been for quite a while. Another map, please, we don't need more champions. There are enough to memorize how to play with and against already.
Sorry to say that's all I have the energy for tonight. I'll be more creative next week. My brain is too full of Networked Systems. At least I'm keeping up the daily blog thing.
~
Exams to go: 2
Last song played: Metric - Combat Baby
5.16.2011
My Recent Inspiration
Another day of studying, but mostly stress. Finally I came to my senses. Read a book, played some League of Legends, wrote this blog, did my best to relax. Tomorrow morning at 9:30 is the first of my three final exams, and at this point there isn't much more knowledge I can absorb.
Even though I wasn't able to keep up with that 50 book challenge, I think I'll continue to write up reviews of the books I read this year. This one I received from my mom, who found it in a used bookstore and thought of me. It turned out to be a great gift, getting me excited about reading and writing again before the end of exams. It's been important to me during the past two months to have something to look forward to, something keeping me going.
Even though I wasn't able to keep up with that 50 book challenge, I think I'll continue to write up reviews of the books I read this year. This one I received from my mom, who found it in a used bookstore and thought of me. It turned out to be a great gift, getting me excited about reading and writing again before the end of exams. It's been important to me during the past two months to have something to look forward to, something keeping me going.
~
Book 3: The Wand in the Word, by Leonard S. Marcus
This is a collection of 13 interviews of fantasy authors: Lloyd Alexander, Franny Billingsley, Susan Cooper, Nancy Farmer, Brian Jacques, Diana Wynne Jones, Ursula LeGuin, Madeleine L'Engle, Garth Nix, Tamora Pierce, Terry Pratchett, Philip Pullman, and Jane Yolen. I've read at least one book by 9 of them.
The questions asked are about their influence by J.R.R. Tolkien, WWII, and their various upbringings. Many of them have met Tolkien and C.S. Lewis and/or seen them give lectures, of which I am very jealous. Each author submitted a picture of a page from an early draft of one of their works, edited and scribbled-on sheets of paper that show that these famous authors are as human as the rest of us.
I found it very inspiring. Some authors did well in school, some did not. Some have a work schedule every day, some do not. Some know the end before they start to write, some do not. It shows how everyone has their own style, and no one person does it the "right" way. Mostly their advice to writers is to read and write as much as possible, and learn to not dwell on the criticism. A must-read for anyone who likes writing in any form, or anyone interested in the life of an author.
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