Stolen from my dear friend Dave

New Element on Periodic Table

"A major research institution has just announced the discovery of the densest element yet known to science. The new element has been named "Bushcronium."

Bushcronium has one neutron, 12 assistant neutrons, 75 deputy neutrons, and 224 assistant deputy neutrons, giving it an atomic mass of 311. These particles are held together by dark forces called morons, which are surrounded by vast quantities of lepton-like particles called peons.

The symbol for Bushcronium is "W". Bushcronium's mass actually increases over time, as morons randomly interact with various elements in the atmosphere and become assistant deputy neutrons in a Bushcronium molecule, forming isodopes. This characteristic of moron-promotion leads some scientists to believe that Bushcronium is formed whenever morons reach a certain quantity in concentration. This hypothetical quantity is referred to as "Critical Morass".

When catalyzed with money, Bushcronium activates Foxnewsium, an element that radiates orders of magnitude more energy, albeit as incoherent noise, since it has 1/2 as many peons but twice as many morons."

Oh Dave, you always were good for a laugh. I sure do miss the simplicity of high school at times, although college is definitely more interesting ;)

Ok, back to bio for real this time...

Getting Closer!!!!

As Mel and I finalize things for our trip to Portugal I can't help but get more and more excited!! In 9 days we will be flying to Faro!!! Here's the breakdown of the trip...

11/4- Bus to Rochester so Mel and I can chill with my family for a day or so. Hopefully this will be fun and not stressful...regardless, I'm super excited to see my little brothers and sisters. It's been way too long and I miss them like crazy.
11/6- Fly out of Rochester!!!
11/7- Arrive in Faro, check into hotel, and be tourists :)
11/8- Bus from Faro to Albufeira, check-in for We Grow, and the conference experience begins!!!!
11/8-11/12- We Grow!
11/13- Bus from Albufeira back to Faro; Fly back to Rochester. boohoo :(
11/14- Bus back to Ithaca and resume normal life :(

The whole thing should be amazing and every time I think about it I can't help but start smiling and getting antsy. At the same time, I have soooo much to do before I leave Ithaca Saturday, including a prelim, LT interviews and selection, and a ton of other school/ Dickson work. This week is going to be insane, but come next weekend it will all be worth it! I just have to be sure to get plenty of sleep this week so that I'm not sick going into the conference because that would suck.

Happy happy happy happy happy place!

You have to recognize when the right place and the right time fuse and take advantage of that opportunity. There are plenty of opportunities out there. You can't sit back and wait. ~Ellen Metcalf

Happy Nappy Time

I hate the feeling of waking up tired. I know it's reality in college and I've never claimed to be a morning person by nature. But I hate starting off my day and not feeling my best. I hate being rushed in the morning--flying out the door with wet hair, shoes halfway on, and papers thrown haphazardly into my bag, to run to class and make it there late anyways, all because I hit the snooze button one (0r two, or three...) too many times. I hate the paralyzing drowsiness that forces me to wait at least an hour before so much as attempting to do any sort of thinking. I hate being exhausted.

It's not even that I'm not getting enough sleep. Ok, well maybe that's arguable and Professor Maas would have a thing or two to say about my sleep schedule. But I am sleeping. More so than the all of August and September, with my "bad" nights averaging out to be around 6 hours and "good nights" 7 or 8. So it's not that I'm sleeping less. So what could it be? I blame the weather. I blame this nasty, gloomy, wet Ithaca weather. I mean seriously, who wants to get out of bed and rush into the 40 degree pouring rain? Not to mention, the lack of sunshine and muddy sludge don't make me want to run outside and jump around.

I've lived in this type of climate my whole life, and the dreary weather is nothing new, but still it gets to me. Heck, I'd take snow over this yucky rain any day of the week. At least snow is pretty--until it hits the ground and turns to slush. But regardless, at least snow comes with the promise of the holidays and back in elementary school the hope of snowdays. I swear, we should get glum-and-dumb days around here. Who has the energy to listen to a 70 minute lecture on the anatomy of a chordate when all they can think about is crawling back into bed and snuggling beneath the covers?

I better snap out of this sleepy stage soon, or skipping class may become an increasingly favorable solution.

Time for the weather report. It's cold out folks. Bonecrushing cold. The kind of cold which will wrench the spirit out of a young man, or forge it into steel. ~Diane Frolov and Andrew Schneider

Bummer

I'm so torn. For the first time in my life I am sure of who I am and the decisions I'm making, but I'm driving those who have always been closest to me away. I know what I want but it's so frustrating to have the people who have always been supportive telling me that this isn't what I want and that I'm making huge mistakes. It feels like I'm swimming upstream with bowling balls tied to my ankles and yet each time I step back to reflect I come to the same conclusion: I'm doing the right thing.

I wish I could flip a switch so that they can see everything the way I see it, but it's not that easy. Life isn't that easy, and if it were we'd never appreciate it anyways.

I can't believe it

It's official...

I mean officially official...

I'm going to We Grow in Portugal!!!!! Melinda and I booked our tickets tonight and I had my prelimed moved. Only 20 days and I can't wait!!!

Challenges

I'm so frustrated. I'm not angry, which is funny because I know I have every right to be. It just makes me realize how much I really have grown up in the past year, but also of how much more I have left to do. I'm irritated and upset, but I know that every hoop I jump through will only make me stronger. I'm not one to back down in the face of adversity and I'm not about to start now.

We are made to persist. That's how we find out who we are. ~Tobias Wolff

Photos from Fall Break 06--Boston!!

Day 1: Bonestructure's Tour of Boston, followed by dinner with Nick's amazing parents and a par-tay at Brandeis

Boston milks Paul Revere for all he's worth

Pretty Pretty water...which, according to Bonestructure's Guided Tour, Boston almost invented.

Those crazy kids...

Day 2: Melinda and Lindsey take a trip to Salem to check out this witch hunt business

Spooky Salem Witch Museum. Museum wasn't anything special, but the Salem itself is awesome. Brings back memories of putting on The Crucible back in high school.

Watch out we've been bewitched!

Alexa is quite possibly the cutest and best behaved baby ever.

All this @ work is making her crrrazy!!


Drinkin his OJ b/c the poor baby was sick all of Sunday :(

Day 3: 2nd Day touring the City

Oh no!! Nick's been shot! Oh wait, just part of the Bonestructure tour of the Boston Massacre site.


Did I ever tell you how much I LOVE this girl???
Mel: "Excuse me, why is your door painted like that?" Guy: School colors

Nick thinks he's badass b/c he bought a ring


Dinner at Cheers! But they didn't know our names...such a disappointment :(

Weirdos...I mean seriously you can't take them anywhere!


The newbies were right. Nick will be in AA meetings in 2010...


Three good looking kids, if I do say so myself.

Young people are in a condition like permanent intoxication, because youth is sweet and they are growing. ~Aristotle

Everything is Falling Into Place

10 Exciting things that are noteworthy:

1. I'm registered for We Grow! in Portugal this November!!!! Ahhh!!
2. My passport came today!!!
3. I got a perfect score on my Econometrics prelim!
4. I only have one class tomorrow and no class Friday :)
5. I love Boston and the McBurney family is amazing
6. My brother is looking at Cornell for college and is also a lead in the school play...who said he wouldn't follow in my footsteps?!?
7. Melinda is coming home with me for Thanksgiving!
8. If all goes well I might not be in the states for Christmas and/or most of winter break
9. I got an unexpected scholarship a few weeks ago and have an interview for another one in a few weeks...money money money!
10. ROKS is THIS weekend and we have 7 newbies going


Life is good. In fact, things have been going so well that I'm just waiting for someone to be like "just kidding!" and then have things start falling apart again. I'm so used to things not going smoothly that I'm not sure how to enjoy life when it does.

So many people told me that I was taking on too much this semester and that I probably wouldn't be able to handle it all. Well I can't say they were all completely wrong, because I have been hella stressed and there were a few days where I wondered if it was all worth it. But ultimately its working out and paying off. Thanks to the free housing and surprise scholarships I'm no longer in as bad of a financial fuck as I was at the beginning of the semester. @ is running smoothly and hopefully will continue to as long as we keep up the good work and have a smooth transition from an LC of 10 to 35. Sure, my social life may not be as prevalent as last semester, but I'm still managing to get out there and have a good time. And to top it all off, my grades are suprisingly better than I expected. If all goes as planned my GPA will be higher this semester than last.

It's like my life has finally stuck that long awaited balance--I've finally found equilibrium amidst schoolwork, work, @, RAing, and having fun.

It's not that life is going to get any easier or any less busy, because that sure as hell isn't the case. But its like all the hard work is finally paying off and the stars are in my favor for a change. It makes it sooo much easier to be happy and to de-stress when things are going well and I honestly can't wait to go out and make the rest of the semester just as great!

The best and safest thing is to keep a balance in your life, acknowledge the great powers around us and in us. If you can do that, and live that way, you are really a wise man. ~Euripides

Never enough time

There just isn't enough time in the day to do everything I want to. I have my schedule jam packed with Classes, AIESEC, RAing, and now my research Assistant Position, and yet I still have this overwhelming desire to be more involved. I wish I had time to be a part of more activities and more clubs on campus, but it just isn't possible. I have no idea why I want to do everything when I know it's not physically possible, but I still hate that sinking feeling that I might be missing out on great experiences and opportunities.

My research position seems like it is going to tie in directly with what I'm studying--which makes sense, considering its part of PAM. My one fear taking this job seems to have become reality: the flexible schedule and creating my own hours has made it more difficult to get it done. I realized that I can't just up and go to the library when I want to work, because I end up having to lug my whole computer there and my laptop is one chunky piece of technology. Plus, I've found that its hard to focus on it for more than an hour at a time, just because my brain needs a break from the monotonous searching of the CU library system. I'm sure I'll figure out something that works and it is nice to be able to make my own hours...

I really am fortunate that these types of jobs literally fall into my lap. Come to think of it, I'm just plain fortunate. I know I bitch and I complain about being overwhelmed and being broke and all the other crap in my life but in reality I'm so much better off than most people. I seem to forget that while I'm at Cornell because here I'm surrounded by so many amazing people doing amazing things. Sure, I'll be up to my neck in loans when I graduate, but I'll have a Cornell Degree in hand and a ton of invaluable experiences under my belt. I need to work on reminding myself of this so that I stop freaking out.

This week is going to be hell right here at Cornell. I have a prelim in my hardest class Wednesday and then 2 more prelims Thursday PLUS a paper due. This ought to be fun...I just can't wait until Thursday at 4:10 when my Fall Break is officially starting and that means bye bye sobriety and hello fun.

The statistics on sanity are that one out of every four Americans is suffering from some form of mental illness. Think of your three best friends. If they're okay, then it's you. ~Rita Mae Brown