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September 30, 2003

It's Tuesday again, amazingly enough.

It's Tuesday again, amazingly enough. This past weekend went by in a blur, even if nothing exciting happened. Yesterday, we had the C3S Industry Affiliates retreat. I was supposed to be a give a talk there, but our department head had suddenly decided that no students were allowed to give talks there, so I got relegated to the poster session there. Stupidly enough, my project has nothing to do with security (at the moment), but my advisor seemed pretty insistent that I go anyway. The retreat itself was pretty good, albeit a little unorganized. My favorite was when all the students and IAs were outside milling around the posters, starving to death because it was 6:45 and dinner wasn't supposed to be served until 7:30. While we were all moping about the lack of food, appetizers were actually being served inside in the dining area. However, since the organizers had failed to tell us, we were all just standing there being half eaten by hunger and trying to carry on semi-technical conversations. It was only until later that we found out the only reason we were not notified about the food was because the lady that was supposed to tell us that the food was ready was too damn busy inside the room eating the food herself. UGH.
But yeah...I got to talk to a few really cool IAs there, which was nice. I pulled a classic Ginger move though when I was talking to this really interesting IA at the food buffet line (one that I had been dying to talk to), and he actually asked if he could sit at dinner with me! Imagine my excitement. But what did I do to screw the entire thing up? I SAT US AT A TABLE WHERE WE COULD NOT SIT TOGETHER. I thought I was going to hit myself. Ugh. Aren't I smart? Well, on the bright side, after dinner I was able to talk to him again and asked him I could meet up with him the next day to talk some more and he said yes! :) So, the entire episode was not a complete flop. Yay.

Posted by szujin at 02:13 PM | Comments (0)

September 26, 2003

My forehead is breaking out.

My forehead is breaking out. GROSS.

Posted by szujin at 10:37 AM | Comments (0)

September 25, 2003

UGH...I am so stupid...and so

UGH...I am so stupid...and so wet. Pittsburgh downpours, what does Ginger do? She walks to school. Why? B/c the bus has just passed her and she is too impatient to wait another twenty minutes for the next one to come. But for some stupid reason, she really wants to go to school, so instead of walking the three minutes to get back to her house, she trudges twenty minutes in the torrential rain. She gets to school, and her entire jeans are sopping wet, through her underwear and everything even though she had an umbrella. Today is going to be a miserable day, I know it.

Posted by szujin at 08:57 AM | Comments (0)

September 24, 2003

I got basic cable installed

I got basic cable installed yesterday (yay!), the day that the Gilmore Girls premiere was (double yay). Too bad the stupid cable guy had grease all over his shoes and smudged it all over my new CREAM carpet. I was so pissed. So, Scott told me that Resolve works pretty well, so the first thing I did after the cable guy left was go to Giant Eagle to buy it. Man, Resolve really does work! After I resolved the spots and wiped them up, I couldn't even tell where the grease stains originally were. (I have this stupid image where I am in a Resolve commerical where they have those "real testimonials" and me with my fake happy voice "Resolve REALLY did the job!" with the fake smile and pearly white teeth (ok, so maybe I would need bleach first, but that's besides the point)). But yeah, I am a true believer in Resolve now. :)

Anyway, other than that, I worked out a lot yesterday (go me). First, I went to step class for an hour, and then I went and ran outside for another 2 1/2 ~ 3 miles. So I know that 2 1/2 miles isn't that big of a deal, but it was mainly uphill!! It's really annoying when you can't regulate your breath b/c you are SO out of breath. I would like to contribute my out-of-breathness to the cold weather (ie, it's butt hard to breathe when it's cold), but I'm sure it might also be b/c I haven't done two consecutive hours of aerobic activity in a long time too. It was also the first time that my legs actually burned when I was done with the run. Usually my legs are like "yeah, whatever" while my heart is pumping like a maniac, but the last leg of the run, which was uphill, my heart was like "what the hell?" to my legs b/c my legs felt like they were going to give out. It was a really weird feeling. But yeah, I felt so good afterwards that I topped off the workout with some beer and pretzels (ranch-flavored too, mind you). HAHAHHA. So much for a good workout. I wish I could do this more often...too bad the weather is getting colder. Soon, I won't be able to run outside at all. Sucks...

Posted by szujin at 11:24 AM | Comments (0)

September 22, 2003

This weekend was aiite, I

This weekend was aiite, I suppose. Friday we had a drinking/BBQ party at my place. Too bad we decided to start drinking BEFORE we ate. It was all good until Jen came over with her Oozo (or however you spell it), and trashed us all within an hour. I was so disappointed...I was the one who actually wanted the BBQ, but I didn't end up eating anything!! It was pretty pathetic, the party was over before midnight since all of us were basically gone. To all those people that arrived around 11:00, I'm sorry. Hehhe. I told everyone it wouldn't end until late at night, but that wasn't even true. Oh-well. At least it was sort of relaxing.

Saturday, I felt like crap, so I didn't do anything the entire day. Sunday, I worked on homework. Isn't that exciting. Feel like I missed out on a lot of events that happened this weekend, but I haven't really felt like it.

Posted by szujin at 09:37 AM | Comments (0)

September 18, 2003

Ugh. Today was the career

Ugh. Today was the career fair. Smart me. I decided to write down that I was going to graduate in Spring of 2003 instead of 2004!! After I discovered that, I basically shrivelled up and left. I feel so stupid. I sort of feel like crying. Boo.

Posted by szujin at 01:29 PM | Comments (0)

September 17, 2003

This morning, I gave myself

This morning, I gave myself a huge welt on my jawline. I'm sitting here, flat ironing my hair, marveling at how NOT putting in rubber rage makes my hair look cooler, when WHAM, I missed my hair and flat ironed my jaw line instead. Hurts like a bitch. Seriously, the heat necessary to iron hair is no joking matter. On the bright side, I have cool hair today (one of those few days I can say that), but on the flip side, my jawline hurts like a mofo. Lovely.

Posted by szujin at 09:35 AM | Comments (0)

September 15, 2003

From what I wrote yesterday

From what I wrote yesterday (boo no internet connections...):

09/14

Here I am, on the airplane again, flying back from an awesome weekend in Austin. Of course, the thought of going back to Pittsburgh is not exactly the most thrilling of thoughts, but what are you going to do, rite?

Anyway, I left Pittsburgh on Thursday morning...reached Austin around 5pm or so (thanks to delays and thundershowers and such). Mike picked me up and we went shopping for couches for him (it's been friggin' three months since he's moved in, and he STILL hasn't bought a couch yet. Anyway, after that, we went to eat Korean b/c I've been craving it like crazy for some stupid reason. Afterwards, we went back to his place and played with Miko the rest of the night.

Friday, I had a meeting with Bob about a potential internship. Being the dumbass that I am, even though I knew he was going to call sometime in the morning (he said around lunch...) I went to the gym anyway. Just my luck, right when I get off the elliptical machine and am all out of breath and retarded, he calls. So, of course, not in my right mind, when he says it is him, I bust out with a very professional "Hey, what's up?" in my "great" (aka ditzy) perky and out of breath manner which he responds with "this is Ginger...*pause*...right?" I thought I was going to kick myself. But, on the otherhand, he was pretty cool about it (thank goodness). And well, I guess through my connections (ie my advisor), I could potentially have an internship in Austin by January! Isn't that awesome. Sort of exciting and scary at the same time. Now I just have to bust my ass to finish my Masters by December...

After that, I picked up Mike and we went to go watch "Once Upon a Time in Mexico." It was ok, I suppose. Salma Hayek is SO pretty in the movie, and she has HIPS!! So I would like to say that she is my new role model. It IS possible to be attractive and have hips. I have hope!!! Hahahha. Anyway, after that, we went to Salt Lick. Both of us were expecting to have steaks, but apparently we got Salt Lick and Saltgrass mixed up. Smart us. But it was good nevertheless.

Saturday was mad fun. Well, at least two hours of it. In the morning, we went to Cafe Java for breakfast. Then I got my haircut (yeah yeah, I broke down. I was going to grow it out, but then...I CAN'T HELP IT!!!....it's like an addiction of some sorts I suppose...). Then we went out to Lake Travis. I got to drive a motorboat for the first time. It was mad fun. It was just me and Mike, so it was a) pretty romantic but b) mad crazy expensive too. But yeah, I got to zip around the lake, it's a pretty big adrenaline rush for some reason. Was afraid I was going to end up crashing into other boats or the sides or something, but nothing like that happened, so that's definitely good. Afterwards, Mike and I went back home, made some dinner, and just chilled. It was definitely good.

So now, that's it. I'm back on my way to Pittsburgh. Got to stop since we in the middle of the descent, and I think I'm supposed to "turn off all electronics" at the moment.

Posted by szujin at 01:58 PM | Comments (1)

September 09, 2003

I found a news article

I found a news article online that said that pittsburgh had the best college nightlife and restaurants(link). PITTSBURGH. I'm not really sure how they did their ratings and such, but they definitely did NOT do a good job visiting some of the other college cities because pittsburgh is not (can i emphasize that anymore?) the best place for night life. No way, no how. Can't even come close. I think I have to just laugh...

Posted by szujin at 04:18 PM | Comments (1)

September 05, 2003

Last night there was a

Last night there was a mondo spider in my room. I'm lying on my bed, talking on the phone, and I look over at my chair, and there is this huge-ass (ok, maybe not huge-ASS...but huge) spider hanging on the wall, and he's dropping down from the ceiling to my chair, and he pauses there for a second, and then pulls himself back up to the ceiling. So, I'm majorly freakin'out cuz like, what if in the middle of the night, he decides to do the same damn thing while I'm SLEEPING?? I wouldn't have minded quite as much if he had just stayed put on the ceiling, but then as if to taunt me, he started moving around the ceiling, not staying put for more than a couple of seconds. So, I decide that I should kill him. So, I grab a broom, and go after the sucker. Except...I miss. So stupid am I. And the spider goes falling to the floor, which illicts high-pitched screams from both me and my cousin. And then we look furiously on the floor for the spider, but since he is brown, and my hardwood floor is brown...we cannot find him. And we NEVER find him. So, I go to bed with the thought that well, maybe the spider was going to seek revenge on me. And until now, I still haven't found him. What if it's actually a her, and she decides to have lots of baby spiders and then they ALL come after me? It'll be like that movie (which I haven't seen), Arachnophobia or something. Doh...

Posted by szujin at 03:34 PM | Comments (1)

September 01, 2003

Today, Scott started working hard

Today, Scott started working hard core on his resume. All of a sudden, I feel like I should be working on mine too. I keep thinking if I don't get my act together, I will stuck here doing a PhD only b/c I was too lazy to get my ass off and find a job. I feel a little panicky b/c I don't think I am going to be motivated enough to get all my shit done. Recently, I've been feeling so unmotivated again. I wonder if this is the way that research is supposed to be. There are so many low days that it seems that there is no such thing as a high day. Some days I feel like I've made some progress, but on most days I just feel like I am floundering in the sea. Does this mean I am not cut out to get a PhD? I talked to Kimmie last night, and she maintained that she couldn't see me with one. And honestly speaking, I feel a little bit the same way. But somehow I feel that if I don't stay, I will be letting down my advisor and my parents, and those are things I'm not so sure that I can live with. I don't want to be miserable, but I feel like the path that I am walking is going that way. How do I know that me not feeling "the urge" to get a PhD isn't just because I am lazy? I wish somehow I would just "know" and then just get on with it.

Posted by szujin at 05:54 PM | Comments (1)