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Posted @ 19:04:04
Its been a while, so time to update this thing.
I guess I'll start with research. I've been at grad school for about 2.5 years now and have settled in nicely. My main research focus is on friction at low temperatures. I've been building a machine to measure this, as well as working with a simpler machine that Justin (a fellow researcher) built. Lately, I've been putting in 9-10 hour days, 6 days a week, to get ready for a meeting in VA 2 weeks from now. Its been paying off, as I've now got a lot of data and will be taking the last of it this coming week. I did hit a snafu today when a cable snapped, dropping my vacuum can 1' to the ground. Luckily only one window broke and we had a spare, so that only cost me 2 hours of work, instead of weeks which it could have been if something major broke.
I've also got the rest of my PhD work laid out, at least potentially laid out. This past Thursday, I spent $38K on a new pulse tube cooler, which is the guts of a new cryostat that I'm going to build. To go in this cryostat will be an Atomic Force Microscope, or AFM. This was supposed to be the PhD project for a previous student, but he got sidetracked and ended up writing his thesis on that side project. So the AFM is already partially built, but I will need to do a lot of work to get myself up to speed on how it works, and then to install it into a cryostat.
Outside of research, I've been playing a lot of Ultimate Frisbee. I joined the UCI club team last January and have been thoroughly enjoying being active. I've lost 25 lbs. since starting up and am in the best shape of my adult life. I've also taken to working out at the gym twice a week, so between working out and ultimate, I'm active 5 days a week and loving it.
This fall I bought myself a guitar, so I'm very slowly learning how to play it. I haven't picked it up in about a month now, but once I get past this conference I should have a bit more free time to give it a go.
What else... I also got a plot in the community garden in my apartment complex this fall. I've got 2 avocado trees in the ground which I've grown from seeds. As for vegetables, I have sprouted several different items indoors and will wait for them to get stronger and for warmer weather before settling them outside.
Not too much else going on these days, no time for anything more. Thats about it for the "State of the Maggleton" address.
Peace out!
Posted @ 14:43:59
QUAL IS DONE!!!!
I just got back from it, and I feel great! I'm sure that I kicked the ass of the LAST TEST I EVER HAVE TO TAKE!!!
WOOHOO!!!
Now I'm going surfing. Peace out.
Posted @ 12:11:24
Should, want, and will. These words are so often in conflict with one-another. We often know what we should do, we almost always know what we want to do, but somehow what we will do always ends up being a compromise between these things. There are even times when will falls short of both should and want simply as a result of indecision.
I am often a victim of this last and most unfortunate option. There are many times where I face a situation with a firm idea of what I should be doing, as well as knowing what I want to do, if I didn’t have anything that I should do, but all too often somewhere in the process of deciding between these options, I come to a standstill, unable to do virtually anything productive.
Come to think of it, I suppose the conflict between should and want is truly a conflict between want and want, with the desires being separated by timescale. Everyone wants to do well at their job in order to get a promotion, a raise, and fulfillment, but at the same time, most people want to enjoy themselves intensely in the moment. Although it is satisfying to finish a project/ homework set/ test, it is also strongly satisfying to simply turn off the creative portion of my mind and embrace the creativity of others.
I didn’t really think that I would conclude this internal discussion when I started it, but I wanted to commit to paper the initial statement of should, want, and will, as well as see where my mind went with it.
Posted @ 13:33:36
I just had the craziest dream last night. I dreamt that I was in some horrible accident and they had to reattach all my limbs. In order to reattach my legs they had to take this foot long needle and stab it through my thighs, through a finger, and then into the rest of my leg. The dream was very realistic and a total mind-fuck. Anyone who wants to interpret it, feel free to let me know what you think.
Posted @ 03:41:43
Its been a long time since I've written. Things are going well, but I don't really want to write about that now.
I signed up today for a year-long series of chiropractic visits. 45 appointments over a year plus 20 massages. Since this costs a quite a bit, I want to keep track of it and see if it actually helps. Last tuesday I went in for the preliminary visit and they gave me a somewhat annoying schpiel about why chiropractic is so awesome, but then they also did x-rays of my back. The x-rays show that i've got some scholiosis in my lower back, plenty of bone spurs, and a straight neck instead of any natural curve.
Today I went back for my first full visit. I had a half-hour massage, a back adjustment, and a further x-ray to check out my bad right ankle. The massage and adjustment definitely helped. The x-ray on the ankle shows that I did in fact break it 5 years ago while playing soccer. It was also out of place a bit, so the chiropractor adjusted it. They also gave me a water-filled pillow and a device which is supposed to put the curve back in my neck.
I'll be going 3 times a week until the end of march, then twice a week through april, and once every other week after that.
Next update whenever I remember.
Posted @ 15:44:51
Update on the state of qual: I'm going to retake the E&M class in the winter, therefore I'm not going to take the test again until the end of spring quarter 2006.
Posted @ 17:36:35
Well, I got my qual results a few minutes ago. I passed everything except E&M. This means that I only have to retake that one test, which I'm glad about, but I was hoping that I would be able to squeeze through on the first time around.
Not looking forward to having to study during the summer.
Posted @ 00:27:44
I just walked outside and smelled a smell that I never thought I'd smell in Irvine. It is the smell of winter air, crisp and clear after freshly fallen snow. It was accurate enough to stop me in my tracks, and I stood there for a few seconds trying to recapture it. I couldn't, but as I continued on I caught it again a couple of times.
Posted @ 03:26:57
Thats it! Qual is done.
As for how the test went, overall, it was ok. Of the written parts, E&M was a bitch, questionable passing, but the other 3 tests were knocked out of the park. The computational part took an entire day of work, but its done too, and mostly right, so I'm happy.
I'm outie! :-)
Posted @ 02:06:49
I sit here on the eve of the hardest test of my life, and all I want to do is TAKE THE DAMN THING ALREADY!!! I'm so unbelievably tired of studying. E&M is going to kill me, the rest will be fine. I just need to get it over with already. AAAH!!
Posted @ 19:25:15
"Tell Matt that he is the shit! Thanks for a great quarter."
This was written on the bottom a student's final exam which i just proctored. It definitely made my day. :-D
Posted @ 02:55:53
If anyone reading this ever is in need of a book to read, I've got two to suggest which are just about my favorite books of all time. The books are The Losers and High Hunt, both by David Eddings.
If you haven't heard of Eddings before, he is a very well respected fantasy author. But these two books are not fantasy. I think the category they fall under is contemporary fiction. More specifically, I would describe them as sociological and psychological works of modern fiction.
Eddings' first book, before he went into fantasy, was High Hunt. It is about a man who has just gotten out of the army and is trying to find his place in the world. I think that I like the book so much because it deals with several escalating situations where this lead character, Danny, is stuck in the middle of things as they are going from bad to worse. A lot of these things he wasn't even around to see how they started, but once dumped in the middle of them had to fight just to remain afloat at times.
The second book, The Losers, was written 19 years later in 1992. By this point Eddings was well established as a fantasy author, but I guess he still felt that he had more to say about the real world. His topic this time was a combination of living with hatered, living with disability, and living in crisis.
To those who have actually studied psychology and sociology these stories may seem a little elementary or even misguided, but they hit home with me. I think there is something for most people to relate to in each book. I know that I certainly feel like I've shared and want to share experiences that these characters have.
So, yeah. Read these books. If they aren't to your liking, read other books until you find ones that you do like. I've read these two books about once every other year since i got the book about 10 years ago. I just finished rereading them again, and they were still able to make me laugh and give me chills. I couldn't ask for more. Thank you David Eddings
Posted @ 01:49:33
Well, I just had a unique experience in my life. I was walking on the beach, as I have been doing and enjoying for a while now, when someone approached me. We talked as we walked along the beach for about a block, at which point I was propositioned. The odd thing is, it was a guy that I met on the beach.
Now I have several friends back in NY who are gay/bi, but never before have I been hit on by a member of my own sex. I turned him down, obviously, but after saying goodbye, I walked away wondering what would inspire this guy to be out on the beach in one of the most conservative towns in California, looking for a man to sleep with.
I don't really know what else to say about this, except that it was a singular experience, and whoever he is, I wish him well, he was a nice guy.
Posted @ 21:54:55
http://edition.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/asiapcf/05/14/afghan.protests.reut/index.html
I would like to draw your attention to the quote by condoleezza Rice at the end of the article. She claims that "We honor the sacred books of all the world's great religions." She also assures us that appropriate action will be taken if the allegations are true.
First of all, if the allegations are true, that someone did flush the Koran down a toilet, isn't this action strongly defended by the first amendment?
Secondly, when the hell does disrespect of a religion get classified as a crime against the state, prompting this so called "appropriate action" to be taken? In a country where there is a doctrine of separation of church and state, surely burning (or flushing) a book isn't cause for any action to be taken.
I understand that this is a sticky political issue, but its in exactly these times that we must be extra vigilant against writing off the fundamental philosophy of this country in an effort to appease anyone. Show All Entries |
Saturday, January 27, 2007