A little update and much needed rest

I just had one of the busiest summers of my life, and most stressful. It started out with an interesting time in Pittsburgh, PA, where I had a great time studying and meeting new people. Then, before I could realize it, I had been hired to help teach a course, where I learned a great deal more about my area of study. Finally, my summer is winding down with a project on which I have been working informally for two years, and formally for one year (which is going to be part of my future studies). 

During my stretch in PA, something made me sick; and while I started the teaching job, something made my father ill (leading to a mini-stroke and potential heart problems). These two things, in tandem, added stress to my summer, yet also made me reflect on some points: you only get one life, and you need to rest and have personal time. I never appreciated the former until my father fell ill, and I never appreciated the latter until I got ill. I suppose it’s better to learn these things sooner rather than later—but the reflection upon these two points gives my life new meaning and habbits. 

So for the next couple of days, I am going to try and do nothing or as close to nothing as I possible can without negating my obligations as an adult. The value in taking this position is that I’ll finally have time to reflect upon my life, and my family life: I need to analyze what’s important to me, and the direction of my future. Most importantly, I will examine my motivations for where I want my future to go. Finally, I hope to rest. 

Until next time. 

pittsburgh: carnegie mellon and the other students.

wow, these last couple days in pittsburgh have been quite amazing. i’m in pittsburgh for a program that examines logic in the sciences, and scientific inquiry. i didn’t realize science was so sketchy…lol… at least, in terms of the logic science uses. it’s really weak. other than that realization, i’ve come to understand a great deal about inquiry and methodology thus far. 

the carnegie mellon campus is so cool. i’ve been in my little bubble too long. i am glad that i’ve gotten the chance to see outside cambridge/boston/new haven. the coolest part about pittsburgh is that it reminds me of that kingdom in lord of the rings that’s built into the side of the mountain. yeah, i said that. 

the other students have been really amazing, too. the core group of guys with which i’ve been communicating and studying, include a student from johns hopkins (my roomie shane), princenton, and two students from harvard. though, we all really just met, these guys really stick it to the man, logically that is. there are students from all over the world, and a couple of students from the uk. make no mistake, these students are sharper than tacks (but not tacky). 

in terms of the first week’s material, i’ve taught most of the material before, so i sit back and do the problem sets in my spare time—while also reading a nice book i brought with me—but the second week is going to be my bread and butter: computability theory and its foundations. :0) i guess this is really theoretical computer science, but, hey, why not call it math and logic? that’s what it was first right? 

i have to say, being in pittsburgh makes me feel like i’ve accomplished something. what that is, i am not really sure. but it feels really good to be a part of something so cool and so small. i rarely meet people that have the same interests that i do, and my intuitions tell me that many of my classmates and i have the same interests. It’s kind of cool to tell a joke that people get, that’s half nerdy. 

well, it’s raining now and i forgot my umbrella, so i better go and figure out a way to complain about this—as if i didn’t look at my umbrella before i left and said, it’s not going to rain.

until next time. 

next academic year: summer first, fun, and vacation.

it seems as if i just finished all my exams, and i left yale’s campus yesterday (two weeks ago or so). but now all of a sudden, i am selecting my courses for next year (or getting a rough idea), thinking of fellowships, and even considering my plans for next summer. this is the first time that i have ever faced such a thing. i’ve always felt after spring comes summer, and there is no rush to start these things before their proper time. this year must be different because i am so excited to be at yale, and i have at least part of my schedule for next year already. 

next summer, i’d like to consider the following things: studying abroad, internships in public service, working for a startup, returning to work in technology, or studying pure and applied logic. i am also considering which PhD/JD programs and schools to which i will apply and what i desire to study. this will probably be the second largest academic decision that i’ve ever had to make, but i will not have to make that decision until the following year. 

next academic year, i will probably do three to four classes in the fall (depending on funding and if i assist in teaching a section), and three to four in the spring. i really want to finish a course on algebraic number theory and one on probability theory. i think that probability is going to be fun. 

speaking of fun, i have to do something that is really exciting this summer. i’m thinking either six flags new england or caribou maine? yes, i would love to hike through caribou maine. i have no idea why, but i really want to do that. i suppose that i want to hike through maine because when in nature, i feel truly free: my cell phone doesn’t get service, laptop doesn’t have wireless, batteries don’t last forever.

i guess what i mean to say is that i am free from technology, and thus, disconnected from the rest of the world. so am i really describing being free or liberty, or neither? whatever case i am describing, i still enjoy it. more importantly, i have time to think about things and relax when in nature; not that i don’t have time to think about things while in civilization. however, when camping or hiking and being in the north east, thinking is a different thing: there are no distractions. the clarity of thought that one can realize in nature, to me, is greater than what one can realize in busy city life. now i’ll have to see if the proposition i present is true or false. 

until next time. 

MJ: Will you be there?

summer, things, and more things

my summer plans are still unclear but at least half of my summer is now occupied: i’m going to pittsburgh for an nsf funded thingy on logic and other formal things, which is kind of cool. for the other part of the summer, i would like to be in boston, but that’s not settled yet. we’ll see how it goes. i am really hoping to have the opportunity to be in boston. :0) 

things in my life are a little haywire: over the last 16 days, i have had no days off from work or anything else for that matter. that’s cool, but really hard to do. tomorrow should be my first day off, yet i’d prefer to work. if i don’t work, i’ll be up and down the east coast, traveling from baltimore to new york. hopefully, i’ll be in new haven by wednesday night. 

there are some more things with which i have to cope: i did something pretty cool, something i feel is a big deal anyhow. but here’s the catch. other people attempted to do the same thing, but they did not do the same thing i did. so the dilemma is that i don’t want to announce this, on the one hand. but on the other hand, i think it’s very important to announce life transforming opportunities. obviously, i don’t want to hurt anybody, or their feelings. that’s not cool. yet, i think it’s important to let people know about this “big thing.” oh, decisions, decisions, decisions. 

some good news is that a dear friend of mine is going to be in pittsburgh this summer, too. yay! 

until next time. 

yale is pretty tough

so here i am, wrapping up my first year at yale. the year has had its ups and its downs, but overall, the experience was an excellent one. i have no complaints, yet i do have some realizations about yale: it is a serious school, with a rigorous curriculum. i thought that yale might be a little more laid back than other places, but it turns out not to be the case. 

they have excellent faculty that dedicate themselves to in depth research and world class teaching. it’s pretty cool. well, i have to go finish wrapping up this semester before i write any more stuff on the old blog. 

until next time. 

This is pretty good. You couldn’t stage this. 

long day so far: five hours (and counting) left to go.

i had little sleep last night, and i am struggling through this day. i did almost manage to get a nap in the afternoon, but that was a short lived dream (literally). i had to finish my school work, though, so it was for the best. i just drank some hot tea and took some aspirin. things got much better. 

i plan on going to bed tonight around nine or nine thirty if at all possible. i have a big weekend of reading ahead of me, and not to mention lots of paper writing. the good news: i have made great progress in being able to prove some great results in the foundational area of math. that’s pretty cool. the better news: this semester is almost complete. the best news: there are original klondike bars in the freezer! 

now to the bad news: there is no bad news! so the bad news is that there is no bad news, which is great news! 

until we meet again. 

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