Today's Update

I decided to drop my complex variables class. 5 upper-level math, physics and engineering courses is just too much, and I was already feeling overwhelmed with work a week into the semester, which is not a good sign. Fortunately I did it before the drop/add period ended, so it won't show up on the transcript.

I'm trying to decide which grad schools to apply to. Two are no-brainers: MIT/Woods Hole and Scripps in San Diego, the best oceanography programs in the world. I may not get into either of them, but it's worth a try. Columbia/Lamont and U of Washington are up there as well. Other very good programs I'm thinking of are Oregon State, Rhode Island, Maryland, Florida State, Hawaii and, as my "safety school," UNC. (UNC's program actually seems not bad, but I have an enhanced chance of getting in there due to my being in-state, and their familiarity with UNC-A). That's ten programs, and I'd really like to cut that back to seven or eight if possible, so I'm doing research and trying to figure out which schools fit my interests the best. That's hard to do, since I don't really understand the field well enough to have a detailed idea of my interests, though.

Movie Review: Open Water F

I can't believe the critics all like this movie. It sucked. SUCKED. It's been compared to Blair Witch (which I actually halfway liked) because of its low budget and lack of special effects, but at least Blair Witch had suspense and some interesting things happening throughout the film, even if the payoff was a little weak and the characters annoying.

Think of the most boring couple you personally know. Got 'em? OK, now imagine watching them float in the water for nearly an hour, yapping inanities all the while. Then they get eaten by sharks, only not in an interesting way. Yep: somehow they managed to use real sharks, yet make them about 100 times less scary than the styrofoam one in Jaws.

It also looked terrible, even for a "film" shot on video. Everything was fuzzy and lacking detail, and skin looked weirdly smoothed out, like the people were made of plastic. That was actually the scariest part of the movie.

Roger Ebert goes on and on about how the film shows the indifference of nature and how our lives hang by a thread. "It's a quiet film," he says, "...in which less and less happens as a large implacable reality begins to form." I agree about the less and less happening, but the only implacable reality that formed was that I'd completely wasted six bucks.

By the Way -- Things We're Not Talking About: How Old I Am Today

...as you may have noticed.

Happy Birthday to Me

Today is my birthday. Unfortunately, I'm spending most of it studying. I'm trying to get ahead in my course load, which is pretty ridiculous this semester. It consists of:

Real Analysis I
Abstract Algebra I
Complex Variables
Thermodynamics
Classical Mechanics

Plus some "problems in math" course, which is just a one-hour seminar thing where we talk about current math research. The course I'm most worried about is classical mechanics. My friend Micki only missed an A in a math or physics course (she was a double major) her entire college career, and it was in this class. Thermodyamics may also turn out to be a logistical pain, because I'm taking it on a remote basis (it's actually an NC State course, taught from Raleigh by video link). Abstract Algebra I'm taking on an independent study basis, because of a time conflict with classical mechanics.

At the same time, I have to apply to graduate school, and all the things that go with it, including taking the general and subject (mathematics) GRE's. The general won't be a problem, but I need to study big-time for the math subject test.

Sorry about July!

Sorry about not posting at all during July. I was temporarily without convenient access to a broadband connection, so I blew it off. However, I am relocated to my new digs, (which I have named "the bunker") now and will be doing much better.

Last week my father and I took a car trip to Memphis. He's an Elvis fan and had always wanted to see Graceland, but never would have gone on his own. (He doesn't like to fly, and has trouble driving long distances). We not only saw Graceland, but Sun Studios in Memphis, both of which I enjoyed. On the way back we stopped in Nashville and saw the Grand Old Opry and the Country Music Hall of Fame, neither of which I particularly liked.

I knew Graceland wasn't very large as mansions go, but was surprised at how modest it actually was. I know ordinary people with McMansions in the suburbs than seem larger. At least if you only count the main house, and not the various out-buildings and add-on, like the raquetball building. Standing in Graceland, you wouldn't know you were in a "mansion" at all -- it just seems like a regular house, albeit one frozen in time since the '70s and decorated by a guy with some very unusual taste.

I was surprised at how thin Elvis was (until the last few years, obviously). He was maybe three inches taller than me, and even if I dieted to my ideal weight I doubt I could fit into any of his pants that were on display.