Parks

A goal on my 101 list: to take my mutt Odie (affectionately known as Odoriferous) to as many parks as I can get her to. I believe I set the requirement at 70% of St. Joe County. While the county maintains a good website, I have never managed to find a good list of South Bend CITY parks. Finally today I found it.

http://sbpark.org/parks/parks.htm

From this list, I have visited the following parks:

Boehm, East Race Waterway, Howard, Leeper Park, Northside Blvd. Walkway, Ponader (on our own Maple Lane), Potawatomi, Rum Village, and Seitz.

This is a list item that must be worked on. Odie deserves as many new smells as I can give her.

A Flurry of Progress

I am proud to say I am the owner of a lovely blue bathroom!

Gilead wound its way to a fascinating and surprising ending. While the book was slow in spots, I am lucky to have read it.

I recently discovered the Modern Library's Fiction list, and WOW, I'm doing much better than I thought if I count those books. I know that I constantly loosen my standards with reading, but the idea is to push myself to read good books. This is grad school, so I can't spend the time and energy to read as I once did. Since starting this list, I have read:

Lord of the Rings, One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest, ZEN AND THE ART OF MOTORCYCLE MAINTENANCE by Robert Pirsig, THE HANDMAID’S TALE by Margaret Atwood

Including the Thomas Sowell book, I am up to 5/10 on the Modern Library list (ignoring the non-fiction requirement). I have plans to read several non-fiction:

THE ROAD TO SERFDOM by F. A. Hayek

THE GREAT BRIDGE by David McCullough

THE RIGHT STUFF by Tom Wolfe

IN COLD BLOOD by Truman Capote

I'm excited to read those books, I just need to find the time.

a general disinterest

in blogging that is.

i am currently reading Gilead by Marilynne Robinson. this may be my favorite of the National book award winners that i have read. generally i'm not finding the award a great compliment, but this is a worthwhile novel. it takes a meandering wander through a life that is somehow simple and complex all in one breath.

odie goes to lots of parks these days.

my website has been maintained recently.

9) Read 10 of the National Book Award winners in fiction (2/10).

1980 The World According to Garp by John Irving
2004 The News from Paraguay by Lily Tuck

10) Read 10 of the Pulitzer Prize winners in fiction (4/10).

Adams by McCullough (okay, not fiction, but I'm counting it)
2007 The Road by Cormac McCarthy
2006 March by Geraldine Brooks
2005 Gilead by Marilynne Robinson - currently reading

11) Read 10 of the Modern Library’s 100 Best Nonfiction (1/10).
Conflict of Visions by Thomas Sowell

I started this list a year ago, and I'm getting there. Here goes a count down of the dones and almost-dones:

3) Write and maintain a website - really ought to update it this week...
4) Learn to implement code using a header file - oh yeah, got it
5) Compile code w/ a make file - sorta, I understand them and when I have some spare time to dedicate, I'll do it..
6) Use multiple source code files compiled through a make file - 5 & 6 will happen at the same time
7) Use a header to input source code from one file to another - done
8) Read and understand a complete work (of any length) by Faulkner - read and understood!
9) Read 10 of the National Book Award winners in fiction (0/10) I'm not checking the tallies, but I'm doing okay on these
10) Read 10 of the Pulitzer Prize winners in fiction (0/10)
11) Read 10 of the Modern Library’s 100 Best Nonfiction (0/10)
12) Have a conversation in Portuguese - much convo in Portuguese happened - mostly in class last semester
15) T.A. a graduate level class
16) Take a language class
17) Present at an academic conference - done as of Monday - aack!
(13 items)

Diet/Food
18) Make a batch of freezer jam -done
23) Make baking bread a habit - when i have time, absolutely, but I'm trying to eat less grain
24) Stay on calorie budget during one of the BF's trips
(16 items)

Exercise
27) Take an advanced pilates class
28) Run a 5K
32) Master a tri-cep push-up - close on this one
34) Work down to 20% body fat (and maintain it for long enough to see if you like it) - coming to the sad conclusion that this may never happen - my body fat shot up when i started running :(
(19 items)

Travel
42) Visit the Field Museum
48) Visit a country whose primary language is not English - Costa Rica
52) Visit 10 Presidential Historic Sites - i'm at about three
53) Go on vacation without a car - Costa Rica
(23 items)

Community
54) Visit the Pizza restaurant near Lake Michigan
55) Visit the Snite Museum
58) Take a local cooking class
62) Visit a local winery
67) Visit Fernwood Botanical Garden
(28 items)

Household
69) Develop a successful composting system
70) Clean the oven twice (1/3)
71) Grow a crop of corn
72) Buy a cactus or other succulent to raise in the house - rosemary plant survived the winter! yeah!
73) Clean and organize the contents of both desks
74) Maintain organization of the desks - i'm doing reasonably well with this
75) Develop and maintain organization systems for all messy zones
(35 items)

Financial
80) Pay off student loans - almost done
81) Pay off my car loan -DONE!!!!
82) Organize and fully document my financial information - umm, sorta
83) Have an emergency fund of at least two months wages ($3000) - getting there!
(38 items)

Odie
85) Train Odie to come when called - mostly!
87) Train Odie to stay at doorways - she is SO good at this
90) Take Odie on a vacation - Christmas in Chicago!
(41 items)

Personal Challenges
91) Spend a week without the internet - I should do this in May. Can't work with no internet!
92) Watch no television for one month - did this!
93) Drive in downtown Chicago - did this, but Sunday morning near the museums, not difficult.
(45 items)

Miscellaneous
97) Have pants tailored
98) Reconnect w/ an old friend
100) Give a thoughtful and random gift to a friend (3/5) - i've been surprise gifting people chocolate like mad recently, but i should step it up
101) Do not allow yourself to complain of boredom
(49 items)

These aren't all complete, but clearly I should step it up and work on the hard ones. And the easy ones. I am going to take Odie to a new park on Saturday.

The Best January of my life

Accomplished Goals:

4) Learn to implement code using a header file
7) Use a header to input source code from one file to another
8) Read and understand a complete work (of any length) by Faulkner (I've been reading excerpts/short stories... awesome!)
9) Read 10 of the National Book Award winners in fiction (0/10) I've read some of these, the counts are somewhere to be found
10) Read 10 of the Pulitzer Prize winners in fiction (0/10)
11) Read 10 of the Modern Library’s 100 Best Nonfiction (0/10)
12) Have a conversation in Portuguese
15) T.A. a graduate level class (I'm on my second)
16) Take a language class (Portuguese!)
17) Present at an academic conference (in March I can check this one off)
18) Make a batch of freezer jam
23) Make baking bread a habit
27) Take an advanced pilates class
28) Run a 5K
32) Master a tri-cep push-up (not quite, but i'm making considerable progress!)
42) Visit the Field Museum
48) Visit a country whose primary language is not English (Costa Rica!)
52) Visit 10 Presidential Historic Sites (since starting the list... Woodrow Wilson's house in D.C., Gerald Ford's Library) (2/10)
54) Visit the Pizza restaurant near Lake Michigan
55) Visit the Snite Museum
58) Take a local cooking class
61) Volunteer for the ND Physics Department
62) Visit a local winery
67) Visit Fernwood Botanical Garden
69) Develop a successful composting system
70) Clean the oven twice (1/3)
71) Grow a crop of corn
72) Buy a cactus or other succulent to raise in the house
73) Clean and organize the contents of both desks
74) Maintain organization of the desks
75) Develop and maintain organization systems for all messy zones
79) Decorate the living room
81) Pay off my car loan
85) Train Odie to come when called
87) Train Odie to stay at doorways
90) Take Odie on a vacation
92) Watch no television for one month
93) Drive in downtown Chicago
100) Give a thoughtful and random gift to a friend (5 times) (2/5)
101) Do not allow yourself to complain of boredom

some I'm roughly a 3rd of the way through the list and I made it less than a year ago. go me! it looks like i have a lot of travel to do!

slowly but surely...

So I've been busy and experiencing more stress than I consider necessary. I'm homesick and project sick and not focusing as well as I'd like. I finally finished the Andrew Jackson biography (Pulitzer winner, counting it) and am reading One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest . I am fairly certain it isn't on any of my lists, but I am enjoying the hell out of it and that is what counts.

I submitted an abstract and I'll be presenting at a conference in March btw.

Partially Completed Goals:
9) Read 10 of the National Book Award winners in fiction (2/10).
10) Read 10 of the Pulitzer Prize winners in fiction (4/10).
11) Read 10 of the Modern Library’s 100 Best Nonfiction (1/10).
13) Be able to name all of the U.S. Presidents in order... Washington, Adams, Jefferson, Madison, Monroe, John Quincy Adams, Andrew Jackson, Van Buren (MVB is a new one).
52) Visit 10 Presidential Historic Sites (2/10).

Completed Goals (22/101)
12) Have a conversation in Portuguese
15) T.A. a graduate level class
16) Take a language class
18) Make a batch of freezer jam
23) Make baking bread a habit
27) Take an advanced pilates class
28) Run a 5K (31:47)
42) Visit the Field Museum
48) Visit a country whose primary language is not English
53) Go on vacation without a car.
54) Visit the Pizza restaurant near Lake Michigan.
62) Visit a local winery.
67) Visit Fernwood Botanical Garden
69) Develop a successful composting system.
71) Grow a crop of corn.
72) Buy a cactus or other succulent to raise in the house
73) Clean and organize the contents of both desks.
85) Train Odie to come when called
87) Train Odie to stay at doorways.
90) Take Odie on a vacation (overnight trip to Fermilab!)
92) Watch no television for one month
93) Drive in downtown Chicago
101) Do not allow yourself to complain of boredom.

Happiness

I'm writing more, but not counting words and making quotas. I will try to catch up a little this weekend. I've made a resolution to write a short summary of papers that I read. I think that is a great idea because I read a lot and retain less than I should.

But this blog entry is really supposed to be a short, quick list of things that do make me happy:

1) How much my boyfriend loves me (even when I'm a terrible girlfriend)
2) When the dog runs around like a happy little monster and wiggles the whole time
3) That I am getting better and better at pilates
4) Every once and a while I cook something and it turns out amazing
5) That I have a wonderful family out there somewhere and someday I might get to see them again
6) That there are so many things I haven't done or seen, but will some day
7) Learning Portuguese

That is all for now. This list should be longer and I need to work on making it so.

counting words

782 words today, mostly technical. that puts me at roughly 1750. my brain went nuts today... in a good way! hurray! well that's all folks!

a new project

I want to earn my Masters degree. In fact, I want to earn my PhD. I'm having a hard time staying on task and doing the work to get there. I spent a little time studying for my written Candidacy exam tonight. I also spent some time writing. Like this blog, I have a target audience of one: myself. I am going to participate in a homegrown version on Nanowrimo. I say homegrown because it isn't a novel, I'm starting a day early, and I'm not guaranteed to write the 50,000 words. So far I have 983. Instead my goal for November is to write about my research every day. Either specifics about what I'm actually doing or generals about background and understanding. Hopefully this work can develop into a more technical document that will be my thesis, but in the spirit of Nanowrimo, I'm just trying to get going. A very boring excerpt:

A Brief Explanation of the Many-Body Problem:
Any given atom has at least one electron (if not you’ve got yourself an ion or a bare nucleus). The most basic atom is Hydrogen: one proton and one electron and some relatively simple mathematics. Hydrogen makes up most of the known universe (I’m ignoring dark matter and energy here) and understanding it goes a surprisingly long way. Unfortunately, go one element up on the Periodic Table to Helium, and you’ve got a nucleus and two electrons. I say unfortunate because adding that third particle doesn’t just make the math harder, it makes it impossible (literally, you have to make approximations and compare these to experiments and you never quite get it right). Most physicists just plain quit after Helium, the math is too hard and they hand the problem over to chemists.

Electrons interact with each other, they interact with the nucleus, and they interact with any other particle that happens to be around. If you’re not counting, that is a lot of interactions. Now imagine that you don’t just have one atom, you’ve got, say N of them. Each one of them has a nucleus and electrons. Oh my. Yep, the math just became really really complicated, and as I mentioned earlier, you can’t solve the equations. Density functional theory is a way of writing the problem so that a computer can make an approximate solution. Sometimes this is a good solution because it compares well with experiments. Sometimes it isn’t a good solution, but I'll get to that later.

31:47

That is the time I have to beat when I run my next 5K. Go me! Also over the weekend, I drove to Chicago and went to the Field Museum. Check. Check. Although, that was a relatively easy drive in Chicago. Off the 94 to Lakeshore, turn at Museums. I probably need to do that again to really feel like it counts.

Things I'm working on:
1) I came up w/ a great gift/donation for a friends school. I need to send this. Once I do that, I'm adding one to the random/unexpected gift category.
2) The BF and I just bought a "Presidential Cookbook" that details some of the history of eating and cooking in the White House (and before). I will have to learn those 19th Century presidents if I'm going to make their recipes. So far we have read the Thomas Jefferson chapter. I felt absolutely informed and amused by what I read. I can't wait to make some of the recipes!
3) My tricep push-ups have definitely improved...

Completed Goals (20/101)
12) Have a conversation in Portuguese
15) T.A. a graduate level class
16) Take a language class
18) Make a batch of freezer jam
23) Make baking bread a habit
27) Take an advanced pilates class
28) Run a 5K (31:47)
42) Visit the Field Museum (Artifacts from Egypt = Awesome!)
48) Visit a country whose primary language is not English (So, I'm leaving for Costa Rica in a week and I'm adding this now!)
54) Visit the Pizza restaurant near Lake Michigan.
62) Visit a local winery.
67) Visit Fernwood Botanical Garden
69) Develop a successful composting system.
71) Grow a crop of corn.
72) Buy a cactus or other succulent to raise in the house (Well, I'm growing basil inside, and so far it is alive!)
73) Clean and organize the contents of both desks.
85) Train Odie to come when called
87) Train Odie to stay at doorways.
92) Watch no television for one month
93) Drive in downtown Chicago (So I'm counting this one, because I was totally intimidated to even drive to the Museums..)
101) Do not allow yourself to complain of boredom.