Third Term

So apparently, Bloomberg is going to try to pull an FDR.

Except the former is restricted to a two-term limit...

Well you know what I say?

Limits are good, but Bloomberg is better.

I mean, having FDR be president for a decade wasn't so bad.

I'm all for it.

Marshmallow Cow Patty

This sounds delish:

“This is a huge cow patty with a piece of marshmallow stuck in the middle of it and I am not going to eat that cow patty,” said Representative Paul Broun, Republican of Georgia.

I'm sorry. I probably shouldn't find it funny that the bailout failed in the House, but come on--who really says something like that?

So back to my little isolated world here at BU... I'm a little upset again. I mean, I had a great Friday and Saturday despite the pouring rain. On Friday, the physics homework went well and I met four more people from my class. Then my roommate and I decorated this blank wall in the room so now it's pretty. Afterward, the people living across the hall from us came over and together we played a game of Apples to Apples so that was fun. Then Saturday I had lunch with my cousin, and I spent the rest of the day doing work and tidying up the room a bit but I didn't really mind.

I got a lot of work done on Sunday but I still didn't get to my calculus work (which puts me four weeks behind now I would say). My roommate also went to the hospital when I was still sleeping yesterday so I was a little worried when I found that out. She's still there now, and honestly I don't know how long she's going to be there for.

Today was pretty bad too. I had another meeting with my advisor who really asked me to think about what my priorities were. Then directly afterward I had to seek help on this IMPOSSIBLE physics problem that was due today, so thank goodness I managed to eat breakfast today because I had to forgo lunch (since I had classes right after from 12-3). After that I had to go back to my physics homework, which I finished right before my PHE meeting (which I literally had to run to so I wouldn't be late). Thank goodness my workshop meeting was quick today so that I could go grab dinner before the general meeting, otherwise I wouldn't have eaten until now.

Ugh... but seriously, I wonder if I should take my feelings as a sign that something I'm doing now isn't actually right for me.

Epic Fail

Excerpt: AIM Conversation

Me: your bank failed
FatMan: Wamu!!!!????
FatMan: like bankrupt?
FatMan: should i switch banks?

Hah... Sorry, I couldn't resist. But yeah, apparently the government has seized it and parts of it have been sold to JP Morgan Chase. So for those of you with WaMu accounts, no worries to the point that your assets are safe.

But frankly, I'm quite amazed how unaffected I feel as a college student. You'd think going to school in Boston would be less isolating, but I still quite manage to feel like I'm in my own little world.

Speaking of my own little world though, it's absolutely consuming my life if you can't tell from my lack of blog posts. Monday was endless; after three hours of classes I had my three hour lab and then at 8 PM a three hour Orientation session for the Peer Health Exchange Program (but yes, hooray, I did get in). Tuesday night was the worst night yet though as I had 80 pages to read and a short story to write for my writing class, 60 pages to read and an informal reaction/comparison paper to write for my Holocaust literature and film class, a physics quiz to study for, and two (now three) weeks of math work to make up and learn.... for a quiz as well.

My emotions have just been tearing each other apart too over this whole "majoring in physics" business. I literally cried to my advisor on Monday because some things just upset me that much. I ultimately decided to continue with what I'm doing, but I'm still doubtful and I asked to meet with him again this coming Monday. But seriously, the emotional roller coaster I've been riding since I got here just keeps getting more and more intense.

But it hasn't been all bad news. Last weekend I spent a day with my roommate on Newbury Street, and since I had free movie tickets we went to see The Dark Knight since she hadn't seen it before (it was amazing how full the theatre still was). Then on Sunday we had a little hall bonding kickball game (although no one came), but it was still fun. As for this past week, I got a chance to hang out and [sort of] study with my cousin on Wednesday. I also mailed a package out on Monday for my best friend's birthday, and at first I was afraid it wouldn't get there on time, but it arrived right on schedule and she was happy. Then my political cartoon was published in the student newspaper on Tuesday which was awesome. I managed to fill a niche and they invited me to join them on their "beer nights" (their informal meetings/social gatherings every Thursday). But of course, since my physics homework is due every Friday, that has to come first.

And since I'm still technically working on that as I write this, that's it for now. Hopefully I'll have time to post again sometime this crazy, crazy weekend.

f(u)

Since I simply don't have time right now to write a full-out rant about how miserable physics is making my life, I thought it would be interesting to at least note how tragically ironic my calculus homework is.

I noticed this as I was taking notes in class, but I was suddenly reminded of it now as I was painstakingly rewriting my notes.

"f(u(x))u'(x)dx equals integral of f(u)du equals F(u)+C"

Or as it's being said in my head...

"Eff you... equals integral of eff you... equals eff you... plus C."

Hmm...

Or should I say G(u)?

Palin vs. Hillary

... played by the great Tina Fey and Amy Poehler on SNL.

Palin/Hillary Open

I don't think this video could be more spot on.

Year 7

It was sunny today. A little cold, but sunny.

Lobster and Retaliation

Tonight was Lobster Night at BU. Be jealous.


And now that my school has cleared the Northeastern coast of all its lobster...

To my delight, they struck back last night. My suitemate, who just happened to be standing out in the hall at the time, reported that it was rather hilarious watching them set up the following contraption outside our door.


So that's their contraption. Yes, that's a string hanging from the box. And the box is indeed duct taped above the doorway.


And that was the result when I opened the door on them... at which point they just screamed and bolted in all directions.

I honestly don't know what the balloons were for. They drew faces on each of them and there was one of a Scream-like face taped to the wall across our door. My roommate thinks I should have just let them finish, but I couldn't let them feel accomplished for what they did.

After all, that booby trap is just so horribly cliched.

Though I have to say, kudos to them for actually getting that to work. Not that I expected any less...

Did I mention before that the floor below us is the specialty floor for engineers?

Operation Cheez-It

So after a nice early afternoon of shopping on Newbury Street yesterday, it began to pour when my friend and I got back. The rain was heavy and continued on through the night, but after a failed attempt to go to BU Central, I resolved myself to completing my writing assignment (as I'm forced to follow an online submission policy that requires the assignment to be uploaded by 12 AM the night before class... bad news for me, the late-night worker, I know).

But others don't seem to be as productive.

So it was 12:30 AM. My roommate had just gone to bed and I was still working on my assignment. Suddenly we heard an abrupt knock on our door. Puzzled and thinking that it might be our RA, we ran to the door and opened it cautiously. There stood a very tall boy, but not our RA, who asked if he could enter in order to... jump on our floor.

We paused and stared, but as we gave a semi-honest approval he slipped inside and asked us to help him. As we jumped and shouted out cries of confusion, he explained that he and his friends had taped Cheez-Its to the ceiling in the room below ours, and were trying to see if jumping on the ceiling--our floor--"would dislodge them."

After a minute or so, he thanked us and ran out. Our suitemate then came out of her room, questioning what the ruckus was about. We explained to her what happened, and by then we were all laughing.

So this morning, my roommate and I carried out the plan we conceived last night to seek revenge on the boys on the floor below us. First we go out to the convenience store, where we buy two boxes of Cheez-Its (classic and white cheddar... for aesthetics) and dental floss. When we get back to our room, we proceed to string the Cheez-Its onto the dental floss--in alternating colors of course.


We then stake out the area, but to our dismay, one of the room's inhabitants is [unknowingly] keeping guard over the room.

But after another couple hours, we decide to check back after dinner and gleefully find the door closed, indicating that the room's inhabitants were finally gone. We run and grab our things, and my roommate recruits one of her friends from that floor to help us.

We proceed to string up all ten strings of Cheez-Its across the door. "No! Intertwine them! Intertwine them!" whispers the friend. The strands become criss-crossed all over. Then when we're finished, he says, "Wait! You want to make sure they can't just take it down!" So he takes the mailing tape and reinforces the attachments... and adds lines of tape across the doorway as well.


Then we retreat to his room, where we write a note saying, "Just in case you're bored... dislodge this!" which we stuck on the door. After thanking the friend for his help, we proceed back to our room, where I say, "We should have written, 'This is judgment from those above you!'" My roommate agrees, so she writes that out, and we run back, stick that on their door as well, and retreat again.


We laugh when we're back in our room. Operation Cheez-It: Success.

Ah, bonding activities.

But what about the aftermath?

As of this point, they still haven't paid us a visit, but I suspect that we're going to find a little surprise for us tomorrow or something of that sort.

If not then that would just be boring.

Freshman Fall Beginnings: Part II

Okay, so I'm not going to write a long post because I'm mentally exhausted and I need to go to bed. Today's classes went well. I think I'm going to enjoy my Holocaust Literature and Film class, and my writing class seems pretty chill too. The former has a thorough mix of students (as in freshmen, sophomores, etc.), and I'm assuming my writing class has a lot of freshmen but I could be wrong.

What really bothered me today was the walk from one building to the other. In fact, I already spoke with my writing teacher about being late every class just because there isn't a faster way to get around campus, and he's okay with it. A more urgent topic though is all the communication I've been having with the professors. I met with my Physics professor today to talk about my math class, and he concluded that I should try moving to a higher level math class lest I be screwed over next semester in PY252.

So that was pretty discouraging, and then I had this whole correspondence going with three professors and a teaching fellow (TFs, exactly like TAs). It's very exhausting, and now I'm scheduled to miss my MA123 discussion to attend a MA124 lecture... more info on how that goes later.

Ugh... I just need to talk to so many people. It doesn't help that my writing assignment is due in approximately 24 hours, and my physics homework (which is going horribly) on Friday. I just don't know what to do right now... I'm planning to stop by the pre-med advising office tomorrow because I feel like they know everything, but I hope I don't have to wait for an appointment or anything because in the state I'm in that would be absolutely horrible.

Freshman Fall Beginnings: Part I

So today was... interesting. I had Physics and Calculus today and they weren't anything like I imagined.

I mean, I knew Physics was going to be a lot different from what I encountered in high school, but today was just review and I was still having trouble understanding what was going on. I rewrote my notes, so I realize now that it actually isn't bad at all, but I don't want to have to sit through class feeling like a moron. And it doesn't help that there are those kids who are just way too overeager to participate. Seriously, there was an equation on the board and kids seemed to be rushing to beat each other. One person called out the answer, a smile on her face - and oh with such confidence! I almost laughed out loud when the professor flatly said to her, "No."

Then I have Calculus immediately after so I was a little late. Of course the professor already started speaking about the syllabus so I'm already a little lost when it comes to what the homework assignments are and such. We covered limits today, and I'm not sure if I don't know it or if I learned it two years ago and just forgot it. Either way, especially after expecting to recognize everything, I was a little flustered to find myself not fully understanding the material at hand. But it's not something I'm going to worry about right now... according to the rules of my physics class, I might need to find an alternative math class to take anyway.

Looking beyond that though, I suppose my day was actually pretty enjoyable. The two professors I had so far both seem really nice. I had breakfast with a girl I met at Orientation. Then I met a girl in my Physics class and she seems pretty cool. Since I came late to Calc, I didn't really get the chance to make friends there, but the RAs held a dinner thing for all the freshmen in my dorm building so I finally got to see and meet them. Acquaintances were made, but some of them definitely stuck, so I'm happy to have experienced that.

In other news, there was apparently an "abandoned package" threat while I was in class (good to know that I got the warning to stay away from the area after it happened), and for some reason the fire alarm went off in my dorm building. (If I may quote the wise words of an upperclassman, "Guys, back away from the building... BU doesn't conduct drills." Well at least I know from this point on that if I ever hear the alarm go off, I should probably take it more seriously than I usually have in the past...)

First of September

So we had Matriculation this morning but this morning wasn't so great. See, I slept through my alarm for twenty minutes meaning I only had ten to fifteen minutes to get ready when I finally realized what time it was and sprang out of bed. Then to my dismay, the crowd arrived earlier than the scheduled time. (The way matriculation works here is that freshmen meet outside their dorms and then join the mass of other freshmen as they make their way from one end of the campus to the other.) So I was essentially still getting dressed as I saw them pass by on the street below... not cool.

Luckily, a few other people came down the same time I did (all guys, does that say anything about my habits?), and we were able to catch up with them when they stopped at another dorm building. Still, I wasn't happy about the walk. I looked it up on Google Maps last night, and I found out that the walk is approximately 1.6 miles long. REALLY not cool.

Then the Matriculation Ceremony was boring itself of course, and so that didn't really put me in a good mood when I started running into other people. Seriously... sleepiness + fatigue + hunger = irritated girl bordering on being an inconsiderate bitch.

Splash (a club fair sort of thing) put me in a slightly better mood though as I put food into my system and started getting excited about what they had to offer. I think I ended up signing up for the school newspaper, kendo, figure skating, and sailing, and then I also put my name in for getting free tickets to the Boston Symphony Orchestra which would be nice (though honestly I didn't know what I was doing at the time... hah). Of course I won't end up doing all of them, but the newspaper was really lax about submissions and the Charles River really does inspire me to do some kind of water sport so I might try that too. But we'll see.

It was extremely hot by that hour though and all that walking really took a toll on me. I went back to my dorm to relax and write a bit, and by then I was feeling much better. Around that time my roommate finally moved in too, and I was extremely relieved to find out that she's as super nice as I thought she would be.

In fact we happen to get along wonderfully I think so I'm glad I can go to bed without worries. Plus I got to bond with my friend's roommate at dinner and then after along the Charles River, so I feel a lot better about making friends.

But tomorrow is the day I'm really looking forward to. Friendships begin here. BU, bring it on!