January 29, 2003
I got my red shoes
I got my red shoes today. Yay! I have been waiting for them for almost two months, but they've finally arrived. I'm not sure if I like them as much as I did on the web (they're a little more red than I thought they would be), but since I've been waiting for them for so long, it almost seems a shame to mail them back. Plus, I need semi-athletic shoes anyway. My workout shoes are always at the gym and if I want to be slack, I don't have shoes unless I wear my red ones. I'm sure they'll grow on me. I think I am still in slight shock at how red they are.
On the other hand, today I got up at six in the morning to do yoga. I dunno what exactly I was smoking (prolly some serious crack), but there I was, at school at seven in the morning. But I have to admit, yoga is kind of fun, even if it kicks my butt. The instructor is really nice, and I feel like I am stretching some, which is good considering I seem to be very bad at it. If I could just touch my toes, I would be much happier. I hope that I can keep this up. I'm not exactly a morning person...but I figure this would be good. The class is small, so we get lots of individual attention which is kind of nice.
I also went to Animal Friends today to get a volunteer application. I saw all the little cats and almost fell over. This is so stupid to be so nervous, but I really hope that I can get to play with cats soon. I miss Ellsie so much it's crazy. I'd forgotten how much animal shelters stink (or even pet stores), but if I get to play with cats, I think it would totally be worth it. Kehehe.
Posted by szujin at 06:19 PM | Comments (0)
January 28, 2003
I hate research. Did I
I hate research. Did I mention that recently? Saturday when I was talking to one of my co-workers, he told me he was crazy busy and couldn't come out with us b/c he had to write a paper. I dunno why, but I assumed that he was older than me (maybe because of the way he looks, I'm not sure), but I just found out by reading his bio (ok, so I was bored, I won't even deny it), that he's actually the same year as me. Argh. I feel so behind. Everyone says that the first semester is not supposed to be so research oriented, but I feel like everyone around me is writing papers while I am floundering in the sea. Is this my competitve nature kicking in, or do I just really suck? I mean, out of the six incoming grad students, four of them are writing papers...wait, one already got accepted, and I barely even have a research topic. It makes me so frustrated. I feel slightly incompetent. Ugh.
Posted by szujin at 10:49 AM | Comments (0)
January 26, 2003
Yesterday was definitely one of
Yesterday was definitely one of my better days. I went skiing for the first time at Seven Springs. Skiing is crazy fun, even if I'm not going particularly fast, or only going on the green trails. I wiped out like a million billion times, but I did learn the art of getting up in one (or two...or three) swift moves. I didn't get to take ski lessons until three hours after I actually started....so I really sucked at the beginning. Beth was so nice, every time I wiped out, she would wait for me and make sure I was ok. I felt so bad b/c Beth and Jen were actually pretty decent skiers, but b/c of me they had to slow down and wait for me. But, it was still totally fun. Too bad I only know how to stop with one leg. So, if you could imagine, there I was, going down the slope, always leaning toward the right. There was no turning going on at all. Every time I had to sort of turn, I'd just fall. It's kind of like ice skating, and stopping by hitting the wall. Sad, but true. I also busted up my thumb (it's nice and swollen now) when I wiped out big at the end, but I think it was totally worth it. I totally want to go again. How come I never did this earlier? *sigh*
If that wasn't exhausting enough, we then went to Babak's house warming party. That was ok. Lots of faculty and random people that I don't know. I wish I would learn how to mingle. I stuck with my group of friends, and we just talked. But it's not like I don't see them all the time and we don't talk all the time. That's something that I hate about myself, I don't know how to mingle, and it drives me completely up the wall. And it's not like these people are people are unfriendly or anything like that, I just don't know what to talk about. But, it's ok b/c we didn't stay there that long...we went to Touch afterwards. =)
Touch is crazy fun, even if the drinks are ridiculously expensive. The music is pretty decent (even if the DJ himself doesn't know how to spin to save his life), and the whole atmosphere is kind of nice. We danced for the entire time...except to get drinks every once in a while. I tried to dance mostly with Shelly and Jen, but I'll be the first to admit that I wasn't completely true to that. Eno is fun to dance with, and my entire image of Mike has been shattered. Hehehe. I can't believe I lost my bet to Jim. He said he was a wuss and never dances with random girls, but I make a bet with him, and wambam, two minutes later he is dancing with some random chick that is actually pretty cute!! I think I was conned. Sometimes I think I have way too much fun at these clubs. Dressing up and letting loose after a whole week of crud is so relaxing. I know that I'm not even crazy busy right now, but I still feel the need to go out and dance the night away. The best part is that I'm buzzing right enough that I don't even care if I look like a complete moron. It's just fun to let loose. The one thing that I didn't get was that one of my friends said to me, "you're boyfriend is so lucky, you're so atheltic" And I've been sort of turning that in my head a few times, and truth be told, I still have no idea what the hell that is supposed mean. Atheltic? Does that mean I look big and buff and gross? Are my calves too big? Do I have bulky arms?! I think that was supposed to be a compliment, but I still had no idea what the hell he meant. It's kind of frustrating.
Anyway, after that we just went to Jim's and had mac'n' cheese. Love that stuff. Notice how unhealthy food just tastes fifty times better when you are tired (ie buzzed)? I miss my Waffle House. I miss my Krystals. *sigh*
Posted by szujin at 11:05 AM | Comments (0)
January 23, 2003
Today I froze to death.
Today I froze to death. I have to say that adore that I have heat included in my apartment rental. But, my whole method of temperature gadging is completely off now. I'm romping around in my apartment in a t-shirt and shorts, and think that "hey, maybe it's warm outside" and then I step outside with a flimsy jacket on, only to realize too late that it's butt cold. So, today was worse than usual. I forgot my hat. And the whole wind chill factor...it sucks. Maybe it's b/c I'm from the South and I don't know what it means to dress warmly, but I think I almost had frostbite by the time I got to school. I don't know why people say they like to "defrost" when they get to school. It hurts so much it's not even worth it.
So tonite, Chenxi, Mike, Avi, and I were supposed to go salsa dancing. And although I know that I can't move worth a flip, I was kind of excited to go. So, we got there to realize...it was closed. BECAUSE IT WAS TOO COLD. I'm sorry, did I even hear right? It's Pittsburgh...it's gonna be cold on some days! It's always annoying to have so much anticipation only to have it thrown all back in your face. But on the bright side, I discovered that the Starbucks near where I live has a fireplace. Guess where I'll be at when I'm not stuck behind my damn computer? Oh but wait...I just got a laptop a couple of days ago for my class...maybe I could be behind my computer even when I am at Starbucks! Oh joy. *roll of eyes* The wonders of being ECE...
On the bright side, I swam a whole kilometer without stopping with freestyle. Woohoo!! And that was after an hour of step class. Don't underestimate me, Chris!! And although I know you don't care at all, I'm still competitive nevertheless. ^.^
Posted by szujin at 03:46 PM | Comments (0)
January 22, 2003
So, here we go. I'm
So, here we go. I'm going to try to do this again. Every time, I try to start a journal, I actually fail quite miserably. I'm not sure how to make myself better at this, but I keep trying. I think I have this weird hope that somebody will read it and think it's interesting, but in all honestly, I think I'm kind of a boring person. So, here goes nothing, right?
Today was a relatively unexciting day. I had a two hour security class this morning. My two friends, who happen to be girlfriendless, were checking out the girls in Athens, Greece where the class was being telecasted to. As Scott says, there is some sort of syndrome that all good looking girls in ECE are taken. The funniest thing is that the one that he thought was hot, by the end of our class, was snuggling with the guy next to her, which just kind of totally proved his point. I'm not really sure how to feel about it when guys say "there are no girls in ECE" or "there are no hot girls in ECE". I'm not exactly sure how to take that. What am I? CHOPPED LIVER? Of course I know that I am totally overreacting, but hell...I'm allowed to do that.
Other than that, I had a pretty productive meeting with my advisor today. Sometimes, I feel like I'm getting nowhere, and I get so frustrated with the whole concept of researching, but then on days like these where she's like, "no, that's a good idea" it makes it all the much more worthwhile. Yes, I know, I'm one of those crazy stupid people that thrives off of positive feedback. I have come to the firm conclusion that hacking is so much more rewarding than thinking. We had a conversation about it during dinner (yes, we are ECE majors...it happens), and we all concluded that hacking gives you great positive reinforcement, while theoretical thinking...sometimes it feels like you're just going in circles. So, I can't wait until I get past all this theoretical stuff and get it into the hacking. And one more time, I will admit that I am ECE. It happens!!
Posted by szujin at 10:52 PM | Comments (0)