Well it's about time...

Everyone else has been doing it, so why not me. Long, long ago, I learned that often crazier things happen to me than to other people. Maybe this will help me remember them. Even better, I'll finally have a forum to rant, keeping me from screaming on street corners for a few more days.

Monday, January 22, 2007

Dinner Party Time

Last night, my friends from the UVA math department came to my apartment to make dinner. We made a pork loin (with some electronic help from Teena), polenta, and Brussels sprouts. I'm actually a big fan of all three of these (though I might cut back on pork, having seen a show on Discovery about industrial / "inorganic" pig farms), and it was really nice to just hang out and chat while cooking. It was one of the things I really missed from grad school. It was still different, but it was also really nice to do something social like that. An additional plus is that I spent a good bit of time cleaning the apartment. What a great change!

Continuing my theme of doing things I said I would, today I bit the bullet and filled out the application form to volunteer a local hospice. I've wanted to do this for a long time, and while sitting around this afternoon, doing little besides confuse myself royally work-wise, I filled out the two page form. Weirdly, though, they asked for my social security number. I just made one up, using the prefix for railroad workers (700-729). We'll see what they use it for.

In equally exciting news, I have almost all of this years tax forms! Because I put the VAST majority of my fall salary into my 403(b) (choosing to live off of savings et al instead), I should get a HUGE refund from the Fed this year. That'll be nice. Once my last W-2s arrive, I'll get that all squared away. Good times!

That's about it. I'm going to head to the gym (again, trying to get in better shape). I'm thinking about joining a yoga class. While at Stanford, I went with Chris to his yoga class. It was a fantastic work-out, and I realized that I kinda miss doing it. On a "huh" note, there was a guy there who, rather than wearing work-out clothing, just took off his jeans and practiced in his boxer briefs. How curious. I'm also thinking of maybe hiring a trainer for a few sessions. I know, crazy talk, since I acted as a personal trainer for so long at MIT (without payment OR gratitude, I might add). It'd be nice to have some more varied work-outs that I can pick and choose from. Plus I think I've plateaued. I'm definitely still getting stronger. I am just not gaining any definition / size / mass / weight. I can also talk with them about what I eat.

Saturday, January 13, 2007

Stanford!

I'm currently sitting in the computer lab on the third floor of the Stanford math department. I'm here both for a conference and to visit Chris Douglas, a friend from grad school. I've never actually been to California, so it's an interesting trip. I'm staying in a little apartment about 25 minutes (walking) from campus. It's cute and quiet and the second one I've been in since I arrived on Thursday night (the first had a gas leak). The conference is going pretty well, and I'm seeing lots of friends from all over.

Before coming here, I spent almost a week with my grandmother in Sanibel, FL. She didn't come see us for Christmas this year, so it was nice to get to see her down there during my break. Sadly, though, my computer decided that it was done with doing things like "working" and it's now on it's last legs. It takes 40 minutes to boot up! I think that there is some kind of hardware problem, but I haven't had the time to get it fixed. Of course it happens while I'm on vacation! Any suggestions for new computers? I think I'm suddenly in the market...

Anyway, that's about it. Tim is still in San Diego for a trial, and he'll be there through February [!!]. Mom and Dad are getting ready for their trip to Hawaii and then to Australia, and so far as I know, my sister is still working at Apple. Good times!

Thursday, January 04, 2007

Last Full Day in Boston

I'm sitting in the MIT computer lab on the second floor, enjoying my last full day in Boston. Tomorrow, both Tim and I leave for warmer climes: he to San Diego for a trial, I to Florida to visit my grandmother, then to Stanford for a conference. Good times! It's a little crazy, actually. He will be in San Diego for a month!

Today is gonna be kinda hectic. Teena has graciously agreed to kitty-sit for me. Tim and I really worried for a while about what to do with Issy, and then when Teena arrived at my new year's party, the answer became obvious since Issy instantly adored her! Normally she is kinda shy, but she ran straight to Teena. She must have a way with animals. I mean, look how she handles all of us?

It's funny how much more I wanted to do during my visit here. Time really slid away from me.

I got new glasses! My old ones were a little beat-up (from that time I got beat up), so it's nice to have ones that don't have small (and big) cracks. I can look a little less like a mathematician and more like the fashion plate you all want me to be.

Monday, January 01, 2007

New Year, New Resolutions

I'm back!

I'm currently in Boston, having finished up the semester at UVA. Both of my classes went well, and I'm only teaching one in the spring (on Tuesday, Thursday, no less). My students were really great, and I met lots of nice people through teaching.

I made a new website. I downloaded Dreamweaver, but since I don't have the $200+ to spend on the student version, I just got a trial version for one month. I did learn some HTML tricks, though, by watching how Dreamweaver generated code to match what I wanted.

I also have some new resolutions for this year. You'll be happy to know that I didn't complete even a single resolution this past year. Go me! On a random sample: I actually lost weight (go me, gaining "10 pounds"), I didn't read a single book in French, I blogged "ever week", I didn't work as much as I wanted, I am still never on time, and I am still a terrible friend.

This year, I'm going to have some more realistic ones, I hope.

  1. Work more. Ideally still every day, but we all know that won't happen. I'd be happier with most work days.
  2. Do more social things with my friends at UVA. I run the risk always of being a home body. While at MIT, Teena kept that from happening by having lots of parties and stuff. It hasn't really happened there. I did, however, just e-mail my friends there, asking them if we could have weekly dinner parties there. We'll see!
  3. Be healthier. I'd still like to gain 10 pounds (well, now 12, since I lost 2 pounds). I want to actually eat healthier, and perhaps be vegetarian for at least a month (probably not for life).
  4. Be a better friend! What a perpetual resolution for me. One time it might stick...
  5. Learn a new language. I'm leaning towards Arabic or perhaps ASL. I think I can take classes at UVA for free, so that's probably my best bet.
  6. Piano.
That's it. If I remember to `blog more again, I will try to include updates about my resolutions. No promises!