Take Me Back to the Tech

Week six has just started here at Oregon State, which means that I've spent the last six weeks wishing I were back at MIT. Don't get me wrong, I like living in Corvallis, I love being near family and friends, and it's a nice break. Unfortunately, it's too much of a break.

My classes leave a little something to be desired. I tried to take fun classes, and to some degree they are, but they're far from intellectually stimulating. Ornithology is just a different application of really basic biology principles; Wine in the Western World lectures usually consist of our professor going off on a lot of tangents about yeast. Dendrology is interesting and very memorization-intensive, but isn't necessarily anything new to me. Continental European Literature is proving to the most difficult of my classes simply because there's a high volume of reading and lengthy class discussions where I have only minor things to contribute. I don't have homework, just a lot of reading to get through. There are a few papers coming up, however, so that should break up the monotony a little. Moral of the story: I'm bored. As much as MIT made me feel like I wasn't learning anything because it was over-the-top challenging and there was too much to do, I would take it any day over feeling this bored. Fortunately the term ends soon, and then I'll be taking a couple of classes this summer that are hopefully a bit more difficult (vector calculus and general physics with calculus).

In general, life has been pretty busy. It's just been school, sleep, cleaning my apartment, and seeing friends on occasion. I wish I had a more exciting update for all of you that still actually read this, but that's all that's been going on!

In Which I Complain a Lot

Somehow I did a dandy job of picking the coldest spot to work in Rotch Library. I mean, I have a nice view of building 11, and I'm surrounded by books about the National Parks and forestry and agriculture, but I also happen to be surrounded by vents that are spewing coldness.

Working in Simmons was not working, unfortunately. There were too many distractions: my ukulele, my friends, and my largely unread copy of Infinite Jest. So instead I packed up my stuff and trekked over to Rotch Library (a location I am wishing I had discovered sooner, except for this one section that is apparently an icebox) to buckle down and work on this chemistry p-set. It's not much better than Simmons, though. There are tons of books that I could spend hours perusing, and I'm sleepy. Also, with Thanksgiving a mere week away, and my flight home only four weeks away, I find myself missing home more than usual.

I'm not heading back to Oregon for Thanksgiving, though I do wish I was. You have no idea how badly I want to see friends and family and all the people that are honestly just too far away from me for my liking. You have no idea how badly I want a Kahlua Kicker from Dutch Bros (maybe MIT could develop the magic to transport hot coffee over long distances... Course 8 people, you guys should get on that), or pizza from American Dream (why is all of the pizza in Boston so terrible and greasy?!), or any of the myriad of other things Boston just fails at having. A quick peek at Expedia's prices for flights home next week makes it a bit easier to stay here for those four days, however; a roundtrip ticket is around $1000. So instead I'll be relaxing here in Boston, working on a paper, p-sets, a presentation, and starting the studying-for-finals marathon. Oh, and I'll be sleeping a lot. I'll also be working on getting over this lingering swine flu-y cough that just won't go away. Hopefully the sleep will help with that.

My last complaint of the evening: the latest Spoon EP (Got Nuffin) is not the greatest ever. Let me just say that Spoon is one of the bands that I will unconditionally love, no matter what they produce. But Got Nuffin pushes it. The title track is legitimately good, but of the four tracks (one of which is a remix), only two are actually enjoyable to listen to. Maybe I need to give it another listen, but I was definitely less than impressed upon first listen. I'm crossing my fingers that their upcoming album (due out January 26th) is better.

... YES. The vents of iciness that are all around me are no longer trying to freeze everything in the vicinity. I think I can finally get some work done, meaning I will stop complaining.

Coming soon: MIT's Obama-madness, why I'm switching majors (SURPRISE!), and probably a lot more complaining.

Yes, I'm Still Alive

So, it's been pointed out to me twice this weekend in Facebook wall posts that I haven't posted in a while.

Sorry about that.

There have a been a number of contributing factors: lack of topics, lack of time, and lack of energy. All lousy excuses, I know. So here's what's been going on over the past few months for me...

Summer
Summer was... well... awesome. I spent it with awesome people doing awesome things, which is precisely how summer should be spent. Highlights: barbeques galore, an eight mile hike, buying a ukulele, visiting fairs and rodeos, and just having fun.

MIT
I realize that this is a given. But I don't know if it's possible to convey in print just how severely MIT has been kicking my ass this term. Like, it's seriously on a level that I didn't know was possible. I do actually like one of my classes, though. My ecology class (1.018 for you MIT-ers) is amazing! The CI-M part (a term paper) can be a little obnoxious at times, but the subject material is incredibly interesting, and something I could spend hours happily working on. Physics and chemistry... well... they're a different story. Things outside of classes are keeping me busy as well. Pi Phi and the radio station take up some time, which is fine. But by the time I manage to make a dent in the amount of work I have, the last thing I want to do at the end of the day is blog. Typically I just want to sleep.

I'm actually going to be incredibly lazy right now and just post some pictures from the past few months (because, well, I want to sleeeeeeep). These are all from MIT, and the few moments I've not been studying. Enjoy!

The Cambridge side of the Charles River.
Boston's John Hancock Tower.
Boston Public Library's courtyard.
There's some construction going on in the Infinite Corridor, and these signs appeared. Naturally, MIT students had to add their commentary.
Obama paid a little visit to campus back in October. This was the car he was in (my photography skills failed me for a moment). I'll actually be posting more about this...
Girl Talk played at the Boston House of Blues earlier this month. It was one of the most epic dance-y shows I've ever been to. If you have no idea who Girl Talk is... well... you need to fix that. Go. Now. I won't be offended.
People always complain that MIT has an ugly campus. I actually have to disagree with them.
As much as I complain about being in New England, I must say there are times when I wouldn't want to be anywhere else. These moments are typically on gorgeous fall days...

So. A post! I promise you that there will never again be a four-month unannounced hiatus. And thanks Ms. Behrle and Nathan for hinting (though not so subtly) that I needed to update this.

WOLVERINES!

Fear not, my dear and faithful readers! I am, in fact, alive. MIT and the usual things that just come up in life have kept me from blogging. Exams, papers, p-sets, resumes and applications for government jobs that probably don't actually exist because of budget cuts (thanks a lot, NRCS), helping run MIT's debate tournament, and Spring Break have basically made life incredibly busy. Well, saying that Spring Break is making my life busy is kind of a lie - I'm spending Spring Break here in Boston, with very little to actually do. I guess I've been exploring the city, using my camera, and reading, instead of blogging. On the upside, I finally saw Watchmen.

(Funny story - I went and saw it by myself in the afternoon a couple of days ago at the AMC Loews (a.k.a. professional wallet rapists - $8.75 for a matinee? REALLY? and $8.50 for a small popcorn and a small soda? REALLY?) in Boston Commons, and looking around the theater, I noticed something. Everyone there was there by themselves. Yep, I saw Watchmen with all of the other single, loser comic book (... I mean, "graphic novel") fans, most of whom were probably seeing it for the fifty bajillionth time. Needless to say, I walked out of that theater with a little less dignity than I walked in there with. Oh, and my verdict on the movie: it was awesome! I don't care that the ending was different, I was completely happy with the movie all the way through.)

I was also pretty excited to get my hands on a copy of the new Decemberists album, The Hazards of Love. Reason #1340974519384 why I love being a member of WMBR: I was listening to The Hazards of Love last Saturday. It came out this past Tuesday. I didn't have to pay for a thing. Promotional copies are fantastic. This new album is the first of their full-lengths to not get a score of at least 8 from Pitchfork, and for once I agree (Pitchfork and I are usually not the best of pals - Pitchfork doesn't know this of course, but I tend to disagree with most of their scores, and their reviewers... but what do I know, right?). While this album clearly has the usual hallmarks of a Decemberists album, it lacks a few elements that make a Decemberists album truly great. This album is much darker than their previous works (yes, it is possible - gone are the days of songs of vindictive sea-faring orphans - they've moved on to talk of killing babies), and the songs are clearly intended to be listened to in order. The single, "The Rake's Song" can only be truly appreciated in context with the other songs on the album, which present the listener with a very detailed and intricate plot line that can occasionally be difficult to follow without the liner notes (which they've generously provided on their website). I once told a friend of mine that of all the musical groups I listen to and love, the only two that I feel can do no wrong are Spoon and the Decemberists. I still feel this way, and will continue to unconditionally love the Decemberists despite The Hazards of Love. I mean, I like it, but I think I'm going to go back to listening to The Crane Wife and Castaways and Cutouts.

There's no rest for MIT students, though. Well, I suppose I could have not done any work over break, but I would have payed dearly for it next week. So interspersed between all the exploring of Boston and photography and literature binges, I've been working on my 14-page museum exhibit design proposal for my writing class. Surprisingly, it hasn't been that bad. Maybe it's because I love writing, or maybe it's because there's not really any pressure right now. No clue. Regardless, I'm certainly not complaining. We also had a requirement to critique a speech or presentation for my writing class, which I'm knocking out tonight by going to a forum on food locavorism, which should be interesting. I'm interested to see how they portray agriculture and family farms.

And finally, the reason behind the blog title: wolverines are BACK! Those things are vicious, and I hope I never come across one while camping or hiking. I think I'd probably hyperventilate. Or have an asthma attack while running away. Actually, the asthma attack is probably more likely.

[Congrats to the MIT Class of 2013! Can't wait to meet you all at CPW and in the fall!]

Why I Officially Win (Or, some of the positive things in my life right now)

For my Film Experience class, I'm supposed to write several papers about the movies we watch in class to fulfill the HASS-D requirement. My first paper was on the role of accident in Buster Keaton's The General.

This is a story of what NOT to do (and what I'll never ever do again, I promise).

I have a lot on my plate lately, between all my classes and debate and WMBR. The extracurriculars don't take up that much time away from p-sets, but the work consumes every other waking moment (when I'm not obsessively checking my e-mail or Google Reader, of course) of my life. P-sets that require math (which is pretty much all of them) get my attention first, because I know they will take me the longest. Then I work on chemistry, because the math for that mostly just requires a calculator - yea for no derivatives!

HASS-D? What HASS-D? Oh, yeah, HASS-D... That one class that eats up every Tuesday evening with two lectures and a full-length film (sometimes two of them!)... Now, I really like the subject. And I really like the fact that it allows me to write (Too. Many. Numbers.). But I forgot about the essay that was due today until the last minute. I started working on it last night (Mom, Dad, I know you're already freaking out... Just hold your horses and remember how I said I would never ever do this again...) and didn't get much done. Then I woke up late this morning, without much time to work on my paper.

Panic set in, and after the quickest shower of my life (no joke) I was pounding away on my keyboard. I only paused to get juice from our fridge on the opposite side of the room, then I was back to describing what some critics call Keaton's greatest film.

Page totals:
Last night - 1.25 pages
This morning after an hour and a half of work - 5 pages

Oh snap. I powered through nearly four pages of an essay in an hour and a half. At that rate, I would have had my Senior Project paper (all 12 pages of it) done in a day. Truth be told, I had no idea I was capable of that. Another great thing - this isn't my worst writing ever. As in, I'm not ashamed to turn it in like it is.

But I will never ever do that again because now my brain is fried and I need some food.

In other news... I got eight hours of sleep last night! Go me! That's a record, I think, for the past two weeks. Which is terrible. But, I've been doing a bit of it without caffeine, so that's good (This is not to say, however, that I've not had coffee. I completely forgot how relaxing it is to just get a cup of coffee and sit in a comfortable chair for a while, not doing any hardcore work until I did it at Starbucks the other day... I need to do that a little bit more often).

Turns out I got a 65 on my 18.01 (single-variable calculus) test last week... WHICH IS AWESOME. In the real world, this might not be a very good score, but for MIT (and me) that is not bad and I am really really happy about it. And we are now going to completely ignore the train wreck that was my 8.01L (physics) score.

There's a ton of cool stuff going on tonight, however. Dale Chihuly is speaking at MIT tonight at 6:30, and I am unbelievably excited for that. He's an amazing glass-blower and I've seen his work exhibited all over the US, so it'll be really interesting to actually see him speak and give a presentation. Also tonight is the Vice-Presidential debate! I'm not too impressed with either Biden or Palin, so this will be interesting. The Tech had a wonderful take on the upcoming debate (I don't recommend playing this game - alcohol poisoning is bad - but it's at least funny to read).

Also, TWO WEEKS UNTIL NATIONAL CONVENTION. That's right, the annual FFA National Convention in Indianapolis is coming up, and I am missing a whole week of classes to go and compete/kick some serious butt in Ag Communications (a journalism contest). It's going to be amazing!

Random tidbit of information: Buster Keaton's The General was filmed entirely in Oregon. That's right, they've been filming movies in Oregon since at least 1927. In my book, that's awesome (and far more awesome than The Hunted being filmed in Oregon City).

Learning a few tough lessons...

Holy crap.

MIT is eating me alive.

No joke.

For the past three weeks, I have been wondering daily what I did to get into this school. I've been told it's normal, and I'm trying so hard to believe that. The work is flat out insane. It takes me a ridiculous amount of time to do p-sets, and I haven't been able to turn a completed one in yet - they've all been missing answers to a few problems because I have no clue what I'm doing! I'm working on finding out when office hours that I can actually go to are (my schedule prevents me from going to quite a few of them), and I'm not procrastinating too much (I haven't even blogged!). It's just more work than I've ever seen in my life, and it happens weekly!

So, enough complaints about the work. I guess I should blog about the things I promised you I would blog about!

School Work!
Okay, just kidding. More complaints about work. Basically, I'm drowning in work, I don't understand a word of lecture, and I HATE MASTERING PHYSICS. For those of you not familiar, Mastering Physics is an internet-based program that has a ton of physics questions, and it's really annoying, and my class has it due at 10:00 on Sunday nights, which is actually really inconvenient. Especially considering the problems don't get posted until Friday. Thanks for screwing up my weekends, Mastering Physics. Really. I appreciate it like there's no tomorrow. Plus, I haven't really done hardcore algebra in about a year, and everything I'm taking (excluding The Film Experience [21L.011]) requires it. It's terrible.

Article in The Tech!
Oh yes... Officially published!
MIT Climbs Back to 4th in US News & World Report Ranking

Wombats Concert
Way back on September 10th, my roommate, Tess, and I went to T.T. The Bear's Place to see the Wombats live. We got there kind of early, which worked out really well because we ended up standing right up against the stage. The venue itself was really amazing - intimate, clean, and just right for a good show. The show itself was pretty good overall. The first band, the Spring Tigers, weren't that good, and their sound guy was terrible. The Postelles played next and weren't too bad, but the really annoying girl that was next to me that was way too into the music and dancing really badly kind of ruined that set. The Wombats' set was amazing, and I definitely had bruises afterward. We were right up against the stage, and the jackasses behind us kept pushing forward and the stage was right at knee-height. Yeah. Painful.

DEBATE!
Oh my goodness, I am loving debate! APDA is pretty much amazing. It's incredibly different from Parli Pro, but I really like it nonetheless. The people are all really fun, and the format is challenging.

Okay, so I am way too tired to write more. I think I'm coming down with a cold (everyone on my floor is sick, pretty much), but don't worry Mom and Dad - I'm staying hydrated and I'm going to sleep a lot tomorrow because it's a THREE DAY WEEKEND (My sincerest thanks to the 'tvte for this fabulous weekend. Seriously.).

Alright kids, I'm out.