...you see someone who looks like he could be the offspring of people you know - and you're saying it in your head, "Hey, that guy looks like a cross between Eric and Jeff!" - but instead you word it instinctively as "Hey! That guy looks like a linear combination of Eric and Jeff!"
True story. Do me a favor and word it like that whenever this situation arises.
Butler had another amazing joke today in class:
"You know - computer scientists are always get Halloween and Christmas mixed up. You know... because OCT 31 = DEC 25."
It has occurred to me lately that my humor here is becoming a little too esoteric.
Friday, October 31, 2008
Thursday, October 30, 2008
I support Barack Obama - I don't support Barack Obama T-shirts
That's the best way I can think of putting it - this is something that has bothered me for a while. It's the same situation that we had during the primaries - Clinton vs. Obama: I recall vividly several large Hillary 08 signs hung proudly on Hedrick Summit dorm windows.
We don't care if you like Hillary or Obama, we don't care if you like Obama or McCain. We may agree or disagree with you - wanting to discuss actual issues is one thing, and we'll do it - but your Hillary bumper sticker and your Obama pins do nothing besides turn politics into a baseball game. A game where people blindly and unconditionally support one team. It's important to realize that even if one politician resonates deeply with you, he/she is still a politician. Obama isn't a messiah, he is a politician - he may help this country, but he certainly won't be saving the world. Our constitution revolves around the assumption that politicians are fallible, that we should keep their power in check - doesn't plastering their names across ourselves then become a little contrary to our ideals?
Some other political irritations swimming around in my head lately, as the election nears:
TV debates: If there's one thing that trivializes politics more than political candidate apparel it's these "presidential debates." And what's worse than the debates themselves is the people who remain undecided in late September, and watch the debates to decide. Do people honestly think that the debates reveal anything substantial about the candidates? The film Thank You for Smoking summarizes what these arguments generally become - some kind of bizarre speaking tournaments. America wants answers and we get them: who can dodge the questions the best, who can recall and regurgitate the lines they have rehearsed the best, and who can dodge the questions by turning them into opportunities to recall and regurgitate the best. I worry that people don't realize that public speaking is not really all that essential in being an effective president.
Sarah Palin: I'm deeply surprised whenever I am reminded that people actually support her. It's a shame, really - one of the most self-destructive things McCain could have done for the Republican party imaginable. Is it honestly not 100% apparent that this was a meager attempt to win the votes of a few disgrunted (and increadibly stupid) Hillary supporters? Do people actually think this was a long and calculated decision? It seems pretty clear to me that it was basically spur-of-the-moment; with all the controversy over her McCain was bound to have predicted some. Not to mention that she is completely unqualified and offensively stupid. Blatant pandering to small-town rural states, which despite their lower population allegedly constitute real America, her complete reversal on the bridge to nowhere, the whole Troopergate incident, claiming to be a role model for women while pro-life and making rape victims pay for rape kits... the list goes on.
Couric's questions weren't particularly brutal in her interview - what struck me was Palin's utter failure to answer them. Not failures to address the questions - dodging them is a trend among every politician - but failures to even cough up some nonsense to make herself sound good. This wasn't an elitist versus average Joe, it was a journalist versus a complete moron.
Controversy over proposition 8: It still boggles my mind that in a progressive 21st-century nation that this is even an issue. Proponents of 8 are always saying "Homosexuals already have all the rights that we do - allowing them to marry infringes upon our rights." I just have to ask - why do you think that knowing that homosexuals can marry somehow trivializes your own? The common argument is religious - it somehow diminishes the sanctity of the whole ordeal. Then I have to ask - why do Jews, Muslims, Hindus, atheists, or anyone else who doesn't share your faith and marries anyway not defile the sanctity of your marriage?
I love those TV ads - "Gay marriage will be taught to your children! Yes on 8!" Heaven forbid public schools actually teach something. Why exactly should this be kept a secret, regardless of whether 8 is passed? How can you teach elementary school kids about bus boycotts, Martin Luther King Jr., or the Little Rock Nine without a little voice crying out in your subconscious - "Oh, by the way, gay people can't get married!"
We don't care if you like Hillary or Obama, we don't care if you like Obama or McCain. We may agree or disagree with you - wanting to discuss actual issues is one thing, and we'll do it - but your Hillary bumper sticker and your Obama pins do nothing besides turn politics into a baseball game. A game where people blindly and unconditionally support one team. It's important to realize that even if one politician resonates deeply with you, he/she is still a politician. Obama isn't a messiah, he is a politician - he may help this country, but he certainly won't be saving the world. Our constitution revolves around the assumption that politicians are fallible, that we should keep their power in check - doesn't plastering their names across ourselves then become a little contrary to our ideals?
Some other political irritations swimming around in my head lately, as the election nears:
TV debates: If there's one thing that trivializes politics more than political candidate apparel it's these "presidential debates." And what's worse than the debates themselves is the people who remain undecided in late September, and watch the debates to decide. Do people honestly think that the debates reveal anything substantial about the candidates? The film Thank You for Smoking summarizes what these arguments generally become - some kind of bizarre speaking tournaments. America wants answers and we get them: who can dodge the questions the best, who can recall and regurgitate the lines they have rehearsed the best, and who can dodge the questions by turning them into opportunities to recall and regurgitate the best. I worry that people don't realize that public speaking is not really all that essential in being an effective president.
Sarah Palin: I'm deeply surprised whenever I am reminded that people actually support her. It's a shame, really - one of the most self-destructive things McCain could have done for the Republican party imaginable. Is it honestly not 100% apparent that this was a meager attempt to win the votes of a few disgrunted (and increadibly stupid) Hillary supporters? Do people actually think this was a long and calculated decision? It seems pretty clear to me that it was basically spur-of-the-moment; with all the controversy over her McCain was bound to have predicted some. Not to mention that she is completely unqualified and offensively stupid. Blatant pandering to small-town rural states, which despite their lower population allegedly constitute real America, her complete reversal on the bridge to nowhere, the whole Troopergate incident, claiming to be a role model for women while pro-life and making rape victims pay for rape kits... the list goes on.
Couric's questions weren't particularly brutal in her interview - what struck me was Palin's utter failure to answer them. Not failures to address the questions - dodging them is a trend among every politician - but failures to even cough up some nonsense to make herself sound good. This wasn't an elitist versus average Joe, it was a journalist versus a complete moron.
Controversy over proposition 8: It still boggles my mind that in a progressive 21st-century nation that this is even an issue. Proponents of 8 are always saying "Homosexuals already have all the rights that we do - allowing them to marry infringes upon our rights." I just have to ask - why do you think that knowing that homosexuals can marry somehow trivializes your own? The common argument is religious - it somehow diminishes the sanctity of the whole ordeal. Then I have to ask - why do Jews, Muslims, Hindus, atheists, or anyone else who doesn't share your faith and marries anyway not defile the sanctity of your marriage?
I love those TV ads - "Gay marriage will be taught to your children! Yes on 8!" Heaven forbid public schools actually teach something. Why exactly should this be kept a secret, regardless of whether 8 is passed? How can you teach elementary school kids about bus boycotts, Martin Luther King Jr., or the Little Rock Nine without a little voice crying out in your subconscious - "Oh, by the way, gay people can't get married!"
Monday, October 20, 2008
Now I know
Math 33B: This class is regarded as one of the more difficult of the 30-series, but so far it's been considerably more tolerable than I anticipated. It's amazing how much of a difference that having a professor who actually pauses once in a while and asks "Does this make sense?" can make (even when the majority of the class is afraid to say no). And I actually like the textbook - a nice divergence from the one for 33A, which offered minimal explanations for abstract ideas, completely unhelpful and unrepresentative examples, and somehow managed to make even the easiest concepts appear daunting.
Math 61: It's called "Introduction to Discrete Structures" but I have decided that a better title would be miscellany. Every class we end up going off on tangents from our already disjoint material. However, it has proved to be interesting so far - we are formally taught things that we otherwise wouldn't have thought twice about, like sets. To my dismay, the topic for the past week or two has been combinatorics, which invokes nightmares from high school. Specifically, the memory of one of two math tests in high school that I didn't get an A on - the test on combinatorics and probability from Alegbra 2. Today's midterm was ridiculously easy - unfortunate because I rely so heavily on grading curves, and I've already thought of a few irritating mistakes.
The professor is amazing - here is some evidence:
Music History 5: Undoubtedly the worst class I have taken so far at UCLA. Imagine this: Mondays and Wednesdays at 9AM, 500 people trudge into Schoenberg auditorium. The professor spends 30 minutes explaining to the class how to resolve some technical issue people have been experiencing with Moodle, the online portal where most of our work is done. Then she spends another 20 minutes explaining some aspect of our research project that somebody inevitably misunderstood. The lecture commences and she spends about 30 minutes explaining some inanely simple topic in music - AABA forms, 4/4 time, backbeats. Each lecture contains only about 10 minutes of actual history of rock - the rest is frivolous at best. You wouldn't believe how many Youtube videos she has shown us...
Math 61: It's called "Introduction to Discrete Structures" but I have decided that a better title would be miscellany. Every class we end up going off on tangents from our already disjoint material. However, it has proved to be interesting so far - we are formally taught things that we otherwise wouldn't have thought twice about, like sets. To my dismay, the topic for the past week or two has been combinatorics, which invokes nightmares from high school. Specifically, the memory of one of two math tests in high school that I didn't get an A on - the test on combinatorics and probability from Alegbra 2. Today's midterm was ridiculously easy - unfortunate because I rely so heavily on grading curves, and I've already thought of a few irritating mistakes.
The professor is amazing - here is some evidence:
- While giving an example about relations: "xRy if x has major Y. Let X be the set {Amy, John, Sam} and Y be the set {Econ, Math, Art History}. Art history majors. You've all seen some of those. They help subsidize the rest of us."
- While discussing unary operators: "You know, unary. Like 'ooone', if you mispronounce it. Like people who ride a unicycle. I ride a unicycle. It's a lot harder."
- While introducing combinations: "n choose k is equal to n!/(k!(n-k)!). This is really important. Now I'm going to draw a box around it because it's so important. Now I'm going to draw a halo around it. Now I'm going to draw some stars because that's how important it is."
- After erasing the formula for C(n,k) to make room for an example: "Oops, I shouldn't have erased that. It's imporant."
Music History 5: Undoubtedly the worst class I have taken so far at UCLA. Imagine this: Mondays and Wednesdays at 9AM, 500 people trudge into Schoenberg auditorium. The professor spends 30 minutes explaining to the class how to resolve some technical issue people have been experiencing with Moodle, the online portal where most of our work is done. Then she spends another 20 minutes explaining some aspect of our research project that somebody inevitably misunderstood. The lecture commences and she spends about 30 minutes explaining some inanely simple topic in music - AABA forms, 4/4 time, backbeats. Each lecture contains only about 10 minutes of actual history of rock - the rest is frivolous at best. You wouldn't believe how many Youtube videos she has shown us...
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
New year
There has been an admittedly shameful drought of posts here lately, but the rapid approach of the last few minutes of September has pushed me to remedy this tonight. The 2008-2009 school year has begun, and so far it hasn't been markedly different than the previous one - except perhaps in that I have been enjoying marching band a bit more. I haven't exactly had much experience in each of my classes yet - but I think I like all of my professors.
Yesterday our Math 33B professor wrote a function on the board and then spontaneously decided that it was time to demonstrate that our choice in variable names didn't matter (I still don't understand why he would even consider that students with 3+ years of experience with calculus wouldn't know this.) He erased what he wrote and replaced it with the following:
And speaking of elementary, Monday's Math 61 lecture was all about sets - a concept that always seemed completely self-explanatory to me since it was formally taught to us all in 8th grade. Our professor was showing the class the notation for the null set, Ø : "Does that look like a zero with a slash through it? It's not a zero through the slash through it. It's actually a Norwegian letter or something. I think it's pronounced euuuuugh."
After class there was some crazy Chrisitian evangelist telling everyone on Bruinwalk that we are going to hell. This isn't hyperbole - he was brandishing a flag that read DON'T GO TO HELL! and on the opposite side, SATAN'S CHILDREN: followed by a list of everyone. I couldn't help but think of sets - according to this man, hypocritical Christians, Buddhists, Muslims, Hindus, pornographers, and sodomites were a subset of SATAN'S CHILDREN. Nothing I read made me an element of this subset, but the list dragged on and on so I undoubtedly am. I wish I had bothered to read the rest of the list because it was hilarious.
There was something envigorating about the whole experience. I felt an odd combination of deep appreciation for freedom of speech, shocked disbelief that some people are crazy enough to actually believe that 99% of the world is going to hell, and sympathy for the real Christians who have to put up with this guy. And of course the endless amusement of being reminded that people like this regularly come and preach at college campuses and actually expect to convince anyone of ANYTHING.
Yesterday our Math 33B professor wrote a function on the board and then spontaneously decided that it was time to demonstrate that our choice in variable names didn't matter (I still don't understand why he would even consider that students with 3+ years of experience with calculus wouldn't know this.) He erased what he wrote and replaced it with the following:
And speaking of elementary, Monday's Math 61 lecture was all about sets - a concept that always seemed completely self-explanatory to me since it was formally taught to us all in 8th grade. Our professor was showing the class the notation for the null set, Ø : "Does that look like a zero with a slash through it? It's not a zero through the slash through it. It's actually a Norwegian letter or something. I think it's pronounced euuuuugh."After class there was some crazy Chrisitian evangelist telling everyone on Bruinwalk that we are going to hell. This isn't hyperbole - he was brandishing a flag that read DON'T GO TO HELL! and on the opposite side, SATAN'S CHILDREN: followed by a list of everyone. I couldn't help but think of sets - according to this man, hypocritical Christians, Buddhists, Muslims, Hindus, pornographers, and sodomites were a subset of SATAN'S CHILDREN. Nothing I read made me an element of this subset, but the list dragged on and on so I undoubtedly am. I wish I had bothered to read the rest of the list because it was hilarious.
There was something envigorating about the whole experience. I felt an odd combination of deep appreciation for freedom of speech, shocked disbelief that some people are crazy enough to actually believe that 99% of the world is going to hell, and sympathy for the real Christians who have to put up with this guy. And of course the endless amusement of being reminded that people like this regularly come and preach at college campuses and actually expect to convince anyone of ANYTHING.
Friday, August 8, 2008
UCI (and some more pictures!)
Over the past six weeks I've been volunteering for my mom's department at UCI, which has basically become my second home (I guess third if you count UCLA). The work has ranged from bearable to tedious, although the main problem thusfar has been not having enough to do. Hopefully a real office job is a bit more invigorating, but how can I have much confidence when that scene in Office Space where Peter tells the Bobs about his typical day at work depicts my situation perfectly?
Naturally lunchtime is sweet release, so each day I've been begging anybody in the vicinity of UCI to dine with me and protect my sanity. When nobody is around I kill time walking in circles around the Ring Mall - a mix of aimless wandering, listening to all of the campus tours, searching for people I know, and photographing anything out of the ordinary. (You'll have to forgive the low resolution, these were taken with my cell phone)
This little diagram was drawn on the whiteboard in the room where I work - affectionately dubbed "The Cave" by the employees. Apparently there used to be three people in here - remnants of an ancient civilization in which students were affordable. My favorite quote about the Cave: "Oh that? That's not the cave. That's the dungeon."
Two Asian student groups consistently provide excellent signs to look at.
If only the perfect friend cost a mere $2.00 (or if only boba were sentient) :
Nothing says Japanese like Domo-kun:
A confused Psyduck outside an engineering lecture hall:
The most prestigious Cal State:
I'm a sucker for modern-looking buildings so I have grown very fond of the campus - especially the comically superfluous McGaugh Hall (It looks a bit more ridiculous in person.) And at least three more fancy new buildings are currently under construction. I'll have to return when they are completed.
I do exaggerate the tedium in my work - I made some Visio diagrams mapping the flow of sensative information one week and actually felt productive for a while. I'd love to share them with you except they are security diagrams so it would be a bit counterproductive.
In other news, another Post-it from my mom appeared recently:
One of the most disturbing marketing gimmicks I have ever witnessed: free earbuds! Except they came with my sister's Clean & Clear Oil Absorbing Sheets:
My Fall 2008 schedule has been finalized:
MUS HST 5: History of Rock and Roll
MATH 33B: Differential Equations
MATH 61: Introduction to Discreet Structures
GEOG 5: People and the Earth's Ecosystems
MUSIC 90M: Marching Band
MUSIC C90E: UCLA Symphony
And last but not least some new faces (I should really start numbering them)
The lovely ketchup at Johnny Rocket's, where Courtney has been working (I'm not sure if this one counts because it's intentionally a face) :
The entire backside of Claire's car creates one of the most elated smiles I've seen:
And perhaps the most spectacular yet, which we discovered tonight - the mighty Tortillaface.
Naturally lunchtime is sweet release, so each day I've been begging anybody in the vicinity of UCI to dine with me and protect my sanity. When nobody is around I kill time walking in circles around the Ring Mall - a mix of aimless wandering, listening to all of the campus tours, searching for people I know, and photographing anything out of the ordinary. (You'll have to forgive the low resolution, these were taken with my cell phone)
This little diagram was drawn on the whiteboard in the room where I work - affectionately dubbed "The Cave" by the employees. Apparently there used to be three people in here - remnants of an ancient civilization in which students were affordable. My favorite quote about the Cave: "Oh that? That's not the cave. That's the dungeon."
Two Asian student groups consistently provide excellent signs to look at.If only the perfect friend cost a mere $2.00 (or if only boba were sentient) :
Nothing says Japanese like Domo-kun:
A confused Psyduck outside an engineering lecture hall:
The most prestigious Cal State:
I'm a sucker for modern-looking buildings so I have grown very fond of the campus - especially the comically superfluous McGaugh Hall (It looks a bit more ridiculous in person.) And at least three more fancy new buildings are currently under construction. I'll have to return when they are completed.
I do exaggerate the tedium in my work - I made some Visio diagrams mapping the flow of sensative information one week and actually felt productive for a while. I'd love to share them with you except they are security diagrams so it would be a bit counterproductive.
In other news, another Post-it from my mom appeared recently:
One of the most disturbing marketing gimmicks I have ever witnessed: free earbuds! Except they came with my sister's Clean & Clear Oil Absorbing Sheets:
My Fall 2008 schedule has been finalized:
MUS HST 5: History of Rock and RollMATH 33B: Differential Equations
MATH 61: Introduction to Discreet Structures
GEOG 5: People and the Earth's Ecosystems
MUSIC 90M: Marching Band
MUSIC C90E: UCLA Symphony
And last but not least some new faces (I should really start numbering them)
The lovely ketchup at Johnny Rocket's, where Courtney has been working (I'm not sure if this one counts because it's intentionally a face) :
The entire backside of Claire's car creates one of the most elated smiles I've seen:
And perhaps the most spectacular yet, which we discovered tonight - the mighty Tortillaface.
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
Faces surround me (a picture post)
Faces surround me - in a delicious slice of Oreo cheesecake:
On the floor of Claire's house:
Along the Ring Mall at UCI:
And among the 100+ blurry 4th of July fireworks photos:
In my defense some of the photos actually turned out quite well - and I don't get to say that often:
These were the fireworks of the 2008 Americafest, a large drum corps show / fireworks display which apparently has been held every 4th of July for the past 82 years at our own Rose Bowl (and I thought I wouldn't have to return there until September.) As we could expect, the corps that performed (Pacific Crest, The Academy, Santa Clara Vanguard, Phantom Regiment, and the Blue Devils) were as spectacular as the fireworks they preceded.
It was interesting to see how the audience segregated itself into those attending for the drum corps and those attending for the fireworks. But as the corps ended and fireworks were about to commence we were reunited by the universal love of glowsticks:
The previously-mentioned fortune cookies have been reconciled. As promised, a photo of the swarm:
One morning after waking I was plodding down the stairs when I noticed that my mom had left me a note on the rail of the stairs:
She didn't just leave me. a note, she left me two:
I later noticed a third - I guess the dishwasher really needed emptying:
And finally, relief - a fourth note with a nice upbeat shift in tone:
On the floor of Claire's house:
Along the Ring Mall at UCI:
And among the 100+ blurry 4th of July fireworks photos:
In my defense some of the photos actually turned out quite well - and I don't get to say that often:
These were the fireworks of the 2008 Americafest, a large drum corps show / fireworks display which apparently has been held every 4th of July for the past 82 years at our own Rose Bowl (and I thought I wouldn't have to return there until September.) As we could expect, the corps that performed (Pacific Crest, The Academy, Santa Clara Vanguard, Phantom Regiment, and the Blue Devils) were as spectacular as the fireworks they preceded.
It was interesting to see how the audience segregated itself into those attending for the drum corps and those attending for the fireworks. But as the corps ended and fireworks were about to commence we were reunited by the universal love of glowsticks:
The previously-mentioned fortune cookies have been reconciled. As promised, a photo of the swarm:
One morning after waking I was plodding down the stairs when I noticed that my mom had left me a note on the rail of the stairs:
She didn't just leave me. a note, she left me two:
I later noticed a third - I guess the dishwasher really needed emptying:
And finally, relief - a fourth note with a nice upbeat shift in tone:
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Take off
The guy who works in the same room as me (but only for this week) always says "I'm going to take off" when he leaves. Naturally, only one thing comes to mind:
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