I watched that number go up over many months – the emails that I had no intention of ever reading. I was especially pleased when it got to interesting numbers – 123, 314, 999, 1000, 1234, 1776, etc. It was getting up to 1800+ today, when I decided it might be a good idea to install Thunderbird. Since I didn’t want to download 1800 emails to my hard drive, I clicked “select all” and archived everything. It took about ten seconds. Now my inbox is empty. I can’t glance down at the familiar conversations and the many useless offers to sell me things back in Cambridge.
I seriously considered un-archiving my emails. I want them back. I don’t like changing my habits.
At the same time I don’t want to be resistant to change. To make a hopelessly sappy and yet completely geeky analogy, a material that is too brittle will just break if an external force is applied. The better solution is more…springy…you could say. In Rena’s world, the better solution always involves springs. Rena’s world is just like Elmo’s world but with more springs and less bad singing. It may or may not involve me talking to furniture.
In addition to (finally) clearing out my inbox I’ve moved to Palo Alto, CA for the summer. I have an internship at SLAC, the physics lab associated with Stanford.
Much like my empty inbox, my life feels a little empty right now. Of course I can write emails and reach out to people, but the people I have history with aren’t right there anymore.
This summer is a challenge. I hope it will be worth it.
— renacat
Comment [2]
I’m writing this from the Athena cluster (MIT computer room) in the basement of building 66. After unsuccessfully trying to study for my 18.03 (differential equations) test (which is tomorrow), I moved from my room to here. Although food and pillows and internet and other people are excellent most of the time, sometimes I just need a dimly lit grungy basement without distractions.
Although other Athena clusters are cheerful, with new furniture, couches, and whiteboards, this one has scuff marks on the walls that make it look like it was a hockey rink at some point. The main advantage, of course, is that building 66 is right next to East Campus.
Another advantage is because of the gray, rattly florescent lighting and one or two people always hunched over computers in the corner, no matter what time of day it actually is, this Athena cluster perpetually feels like it’s two in the morning. This is a good thing because your body instinctively starts thinking about bed at around two in the morning and somehow finds the motivation to finish a great deal of work very quickly.
MIT words you should know:
Tool. (verb) To study or work on things. “I really need to tool for the 18.03 test tomorrow.”
Punt. (verb) Opposite of tool. To avoid work, usually with fun distractions. “I’ve been working for two hours and really need to punt now.”
Hosed. (noun) To have an overwhelming, spirit-crushing, seemingly impossible amount of assigned work. Comes from “drinking from a firehose” – a saying used to describe MIT.
Speaking of which, I should go back to tooling 18.03…
— renacat
Comment [3]
Well, I’m back. It’s quiet, with not many people back on hall yet and even fewer walking around the campus.
IAP (Independent Activities Period) is the month of January. You can take a class, work, stay home, basically anything you want. I’m doing 6.270, which is a LEGO robotics competition. Since it doesn’t start until tomorrow, I don’t know what exactly we will be doing, but it will involve LEGOs, a maze, and C programming in some way.
Since the last time I was here was finals week, it seems very strange to have nothing required to do, no deadlines (yet) and way too much free time, sort of like home over the break. It will be nice to have work and time pressure again, actually…because punting (avoiding work with fun distractions) is so much more fun when you have some work to punt.
I buy so many burritos, and say “Gracias” instead of “Thank you” often enough that the man who works at Anna’s tried to teach me some more Spanish last night. They definitely are starting to remember me. I’m always surprised that I can understand a lot of Spanish for not having studied much.
Oh yeah, Happy New Year! Now I have to get used to it being 2009. I hope all of you have an excellent year. I certainly plan to.
— renacat
Comment [3]
Things I have done in the last 6 days include, but are not limited to:
Had a cold
Did the last physics pset (with a cold)
Did the last chemistry pset (with a cold)
Slept on Saturday
Did the last calculus pset (with less of a cold), turned it in at 6 AM, realized that the buildings were completely empty, did a cartwheel in the Infinite, watched a gorgeous sunrise from Lobby 10, and went to sleep
Completed my Reader’s Notebook for my writing class (no small task)
Compiled the portfolio of all of my work for my writing class
Was nearly as excited as the California frosh about the snow (which didn’t stick)
Played a soccer game (in the snow)
Went to three ice skating classes
Formatted 21 essays for the web magazine our writing class is making (I hate you, Microsoft Word, with your curly quotation marks. I hate you so much.)
Finished website before deadline
Went to last classes of the semester
Was sad that 8.022 (physics) is over
Studied for 18.02 makeup exam
Pwned 18.02 makeup exam
Celebrated success by watching soccer online in a hammock and eating leftovers
Last and definitely least, actually posted on my blog.
Parents (mine or other people’s) will be glad to know that, although my sleep schedule has been completely messed up and somewhat lacking, I did not actually pull an all-nighter.
— renacat
Comment [2]
East Campus is right next to the Green Building, the earth, atmospheric, and planetary science building. The Green Building has a weather reporting station on top, and if I go to www.wunderground.com, which reports local weather stations, I can see the current conditions on the next building over. I think this is pretty awesome.
Of course, I don’t usually check the temperature. I did check two days ago, after the wind seemed to cut right through my jacket, it was so cold. The temperature was around 29 degrees F – that would be under 0 degrees C, otherwise known as officially below freezing during the day. I gave up and turned on my radiator. Like everything in East Campus (meaning the showers that don’t quite get hot all the time), it seems to be questionably warm right now. I’m resting my feet on it in a hope to warm up, but it’s actually being sort of cold.
Another side effect of walking around in dry, heated buildings and wearing a fleece-type jacket all day is that by the time I get back to my room and hold my key next to the doorknob, I get a visible spark. I realized that it hurts a lot less doing this with my key than my hand.
The class schedule for the spring was posted last night, and all the freshmen were trying to decide on what classes to take next semester. The selections ranged from “the rest of the general requirements” to “three math classes, two economics classes.” I know I’m going to take 18.03 (differential equations) and a HASS (humanities) class. With my remaining credit limit, I’m considering intro to bio (which I might put off until next fall because Professor Lander, who helped sequence the human genome, teaches it in the fall), physics (either 8.03-waves and oscillations or 8.033-relativity), or mechE. So many classes to chose from, made even more difficult because I haven’t picked a major yet. So basically I could take ANYTHING as my fourth class next term. Scary.
Jersey kids aren’t really that resistant to cold. We just wear pajamas under our jeans and pretend that it’s warm. Or maybe that’s just me.
— renacat
Comment [4]
