Not in Kansas Anymore

2011-08-04T14:14:00.000-04:00

Father's Day

2011-06-17T20:19:00.002-04:00

A father's day gift from our dog, Wally, to my dad.

Homepage

2011-06-16T12:27:00.004-04:00

I've just finished a new homepage: sarahmloos.wordpress.com

I'll still be blogging here whenever I have a spare minute, but my homepage will have all my research and publication info.

GOP "War on Women"

2011-02-23T19:17:00.001-05:00

Planned Parenthood originated in 1916 when Margaret Sanger, already a nationally known birth control advocate, and associates opened the first US birth control clinic in Brooklyn, New York. It resulted in her being jailed.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dUESCLbTVQA

Federal funding has not been available for abortions for 30 years. Indiana Representative Pence cannot, as he claims, be calling for the end of funding for abortions. He is calling for the end of funding for Planned Parenthood, a not-for-profit organization that provides sex education, contraceptives, and regular health services for millions of women who need it the most.

This cannot be about taking the burden of funding abortions off of tax payers, since federal funding does not support abortions. So why, after almost 100 years since the founding of planned parenthood, are we taking such a huge step backward in women's rights?

Manic Monday

2010-11-08T11:19:00.005-05:00

Walking to the bus stop this morning, I see a bus drive by me... Wait, that's MY bus! It's early! So I sprint after the bus for three blocks along Murray Ave. Luckily there was a bit of traffic. I skid into the stop just in time, wheezing like crazy trying to catch my breath. I finally take my seat on the bus, and pull out my ipod. What song comes up on shuffle?

"It's just another manic Monday
I wish it was Sunday
'Cause that's my fun day
My I don't have to RUN day
It's just another manic Monday"

OurCS 2011

2010-11-06T01:07:00.008-04:00

In 2007 I got to attend an amazing conference at Carnegie Mellon - Opportunities for Undergraduate Research in Computer Science (OurCS). During the conference I got to present research that I had done, work on a problem with a team of computer scientists led by Henry Cohn (Microsoft Research), and I got to meet Fran Allen, first woman to win the Turing Award (the highest award in CS).

Me with Fran Allen at the 2007 OurCS.

Can you tell by my smile how excited I was to meet her?

This year, CMU finally has funding to host this event for the second time. I'll get to pass on my experiences to another class of computer scientists in the making. Instead of presenting my research, I'll be reviewing and giving feedback on the research presentations that are submitted. Henry Cohn (along with a dozen other researchers) is coming back again to lead a new team on a new research problem. And Barbara Liskov (the second woman to win the Turing Award) will be one of our keynote speakers. I am thrilled that this event will be happening again. If you know any undergraduate women interested in doing research, registration for OurCS is now open, so please pass along this link!

Three Days

2010-11-06T01:05:00.002-04:00

Well, I made it three days in a row! It turns out I'm a bit too busy to post daily... however, I will still attempt to make 30 posts in 30 days.

Family History

2010-11-03T23:06:00.007-04:00

It is only the third day of NaBloPoMo and I have no happenings to talk about! How will I keep up for a month? I've decided that whenever I have nothing of interest to report, I'll fill it in with family history. This may not be interesting to you, but it will be fun for me! And perhaps my research will inspire you to find out interesting stories about your own family!

This is a photo of my grandmother (the little girl),

great-grandmother, great^2 grandmother and great^3 grandmother.

They are sitting outside their home in Fort Wayne, Indiana

It's Election Day...

2010-11-02T09:48:00.002-04:00

The Rally to Restore Sanity

2010-11-01T16:09:00.005-04:00

On Saturday I left my house at 5:00a.m. to attend Jon Stewart's Rally to Restore Sanity. I was so excited about the rally, that I stayed up all night making two posters:

Notice that I am sporting a rally T-Shirt which declares, "I disagree with you, but I'm pretty sure you're not Hitler."

This was not your typical rally. First of all, it was organized by two comedians and was centered around musical performances. However with estimated attendance in the hundreds of thousands, there was more purpose to it than just a standard comedy act. The point of our demonstration? Hard to say. I think it meant something different to each person, but you can get a general idea from the great number of witty signs that were held up around the National Mall. To me, it was about being a Moderate. I'm not always going to agree with other people about everything, and that's okay.

Unfortunately, the fact is that there are a whole lot of things that I don't understand. I recognize this. But, every time I try to learn something about a topic, I feel like I'm being pressured into one bias or another instead of being told the facts and allowed to come to my own conclusions. This is incredibly frustrating. There is too much raw news for me to be able to get it all directly from the source, but I can't find a trusted mediary to deliver it to me. Media's purpose is to be that mediary, to distill the information without distorting its original intention.

The current "political climate" has produced very serious conservative movements. The people at the forefront of these movements appear to be fundamentalists, thriving on fear and hyperbole. Perhaps this is not the case, but that's how it always sounds to me. I don't believe that there are so many radical conservatives as the news represents. I think that extremists exist primarily on the fringes, and most of us are reasonable Americans. And that's what this rally was about. Getting together a large, moderate group, and demonstrating that sane people, although they occupy less time on the news, far outnumber the extremists.

There were a lot of people there.

We were so far back we couldn't even see the stage

(or the farthest back jumbo-tron, for that matter).

NaBloPoMo

2010-11-01T15:56:00.005-04:00

Well, my site has been dormant long enough. I am inspired this month to take part in National Blog Posting Month (NaBloPoMo). I will post here every day until November 30th! Hopefully I don't run out of things to say.

I'm doing this for multiple reasons.

1) I've watched my cousin, Laura, do it so successfully every November.

2) My Fiance, Jeremy, is participating in National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) and, while I don't feel up to writing an entire novel, I don't want to be completely left out.

3) I need a kick start for getting this blog up and running again.

Here we go!

Hop on the Bus, Gus

2010-06-18T15:52:00.002-04:00

1 Bus
24 riders
4 children
3 mothers
1 stroller
1 dog
1 guitar
1 cart of books and magazines
1 person who enjoys counting

Grandpa visits Pittsburgh

2010-06-09T08:17:00.005-04:00

My grandpa Meyer came to visit me last week in Pittsburgh, and despite the almost constant rain, we had a great time! The reason for the visit: to see a Cubs vs. Pirates game. There was a game every night grandpa was here, and lucky for us the night we went was the only night it didn't rain. Unfortunately for grandpa, the Pirates won.

We also went for a ride on the Duquesne Incline for a great view of the city. Alas, we had to face the rain at some point, and that night there was a downpour. From the top of Mount Washingtong we could see the three rivers, the city, and PNC park, where the third Cubs vs. Pirates game was being rained out (and later cancelled). We took refuge from the rain in the engine room of the funicular.

Plants!

2010-06-07T15:49:00.006-04:00

Now I can measure the time between blog posts in plant growth. The cilantro, which hadn’t even sprouted at the time of my last post, is now thriving. We’ve harvested several times – for salsa, salads, chili, tacos, soup. In fact, we have so much cilantro that we can hardly eat enough to keep it from going to seed.

The hibiscus plant is a slow grower, but despite its short height, it has put on several new leaves in the last week.

The blue chrysanthemums have just started to take off. I don’t know if this is what it’s supposed to look like, but it seems healthy.

We also have a few new additions. This morning I enjoyed some green tea with peppermint from this plant.

I’m hoping these pepper plants produce this season.

Our most exciting new plants, however, are the tomatoes we planted this weekend: two heirloom and one baby tomato. We’ll need to get tomato cages soon.

And finally, the trouble child: a lettuce bowl. We harvested it the way the market seller told us to, but it just doesn’t grow back. I think half of it is gone forever and the other half takes weeks to produce half a salad. Today I harvested half a salad and filled the rest with cilantro, since that’s more abundant at the moment than the lettuce. I'll spare you a picture.

Sprouts!

2010-04-04T23:50:00.004-04:00

I'm sprouting Hibiscus, Cilantro, and Blue Chrysanthemums. The packages all say that they will sprout in 14-21 days. Today is day 7 and they are already up! Off to a good start!

Hibiscus

Chrysanthemums

A State of Emergency

2010-02-08T00:26:00.004-05:00

CMU has cancelled class due to the 22 inches of snow that fell on Pittsburgh Friday night and early Saturday morning. I don't ever recall seeing so much snow in my life. Below is the view of my porch on Friday at 11:00pm and on Saturday morning when I woke up.

I am a Technical Woman

2009-10-01T17:03:00.003-04:00

The footage for this video was gathered at the 2008 Grace Hopper Conference. Watch for me, I'm in it for almost half a second!

Busy

2009-09-27T22:51:00.003-04:00

Oh my goodness! I was being such a good and consistent blogger. Unfortunately my summer days of leisure have passed, and I am now back in the craziness of school. I am enrolled in only two classes, because more than that would infringe on my ability to do research. These classes are on a level I have never seen before. Well, the assignments for Type Systems are at least. The first of our weekly assignments took me 15 hours to finish, and then another 14 hours to type up in the required format. My completed assignment was 7 pages of typed math. Oh my. But I would be lying if I said I didn't love it (except for the typing part, that was awful). It's a really amazing atmosphere here. Everyone loves what they're doing, and is excited to discuss it. I'm in for a huge challenge with the research and studies I will be doing.

No More Bugs

2009-09-10T17:26:00.001-04:00

So, my air conditioner has been replaced, and I no longer have large bugs invading my room every evening. However, here are pictures from a couple who ventured to visit me one evening (no doubt coming from Schenley park down the street). I captured them in a tupperware container and released them on the back porch.

Felix

2009-09-09T22:54:00.001-04:00

Everyone, I'd like you to meet Felix.

Felix is my wonderful new betta. I've been meaning to post pictures of him for a couple weeks, but taking pictures of a fish is surprisingly difficult. You might imagine that photographing a fish is hard because they dart around a lot, but that was not the case with Felix - he was so interested in my camera, that he is staring directly at me in almost every picture I took. My problem was the automatic focus, which would only focus on the glass in front of Felix, or the plant behind him.

Here is Felix's tank. Well, it's actually a vase I bought at TJ Maxx, but Felix doesn't seem to know the difference. I added some shells and a live plant to make it homey. I worry that he gets bored when I'm gone all day, so I also rotate other interesting items outside his tank for him to look at.

I brought back two glass companions for him from Venice. He basically ignores them, but he loves the shiny glass bobbles that they're attached to. He entertains himself by pushing them around with his nose.

I read that bettas (and other fish) can be taught a variety of tricks. I, of course, want Felix to be the smartest and most awesome betta in the world, so we are going to attempt to break the Guinness record of nine tricks learned by one fish! The first in his repertoire will be jumping to get a pellet of food stuck to my finger. We're working on it.

A Night at PNC Park - The Picture Book Version

2009-09-08T22:30:00.007-04:00

We travelled by bus to the heart of the city, then crossed the Mighty Allegheny River on foot over the 6^th Street Bridge.

After taking our seats on the third base line, we admired the view that PNC park offered of downtown Pittsburgh.

The Pirates were losing to the Cardinals, 2-1, but we were not ashamed to support our team in our (free) Pirates hats!

The 10^th inning gave ample time for darkness to fall over the city, and give us an even more spectacular view.

And then, the main attraction and end of the evening: fireworks!

Life as a Grad Student

2009-09-05T11:36:00.005-04:00

For the last two weeks I've been completely devoted to the Immigration Course (for all incoming PhD students in the Computer Science Department). Yesterday marked the end of the course, and the beginning of my life as a graduate student! Hooray!

The Immigration Course was basically a crash course in all the research that is being done at CMU. Every day from 9:45 to 4:00 we would listen to several professors give thirty minute snippets about their research. The point of this mentally exhausting task? FIND AN ADVISOR! From the thirty minute snippet we are supposed to decide if the prof is someone we want to do research with. If so, we schedule appointments with them and discuss. On September 30th, professors hand in their pick of students, and students hand in their pick of professors. They all get sorted and that's how you end up with an advisor. Then the real work can begin.

Along with organizing technical talks by professors, the Immigration Course exists to perform a sort of social hazing. Almost every night there is some activity (usually involving alcohol) to coax us timid first year students out of our shells. These have included: two potlucks, a boat cruise, kayaking on the Allegheny, Monongahela, and Ohio river, and several parties and bar nights. Tonight is our very last organized event. We are headed to a Pittsburgh Pirates baseball game at PNC park.

A couple pictures of activities during the last two weeks:

Kayaking at the Point. That's the Ohio river behind me.

We were kayaking right downtown, under all the bridges.

The boat cruise people made us split into groups and take awkward pictures as we boarded, no doubt hoping we would buy the photos from them later.

Reasons I love my new neighborhood

2009-08-28T00:37:00.006-04:00

Bought lemonade for a quarter from a kid's stand after a hot walk home from school.
Cobble stone streets (that I don't have to drive on).
The walk to school is almost entirely down hill.
When I sit on my bed and look out my windows, all I can see are trees.
Bus stop two blocks away.
The owner of an ice cream truck lives and parks on my street.
Lots and lots of big, old houses with interesting architecture.
Nice neighbors.

Bike Tour Number Three

2009-08-26T21:59:00.003-04:00

"We went on a bike tour through the country outside of Florence. I mean literally through the country. Our guide took us out of the city in a van, and then we rode for 17 miles. I didn't think 17 miles would be all that far, but when it is all up hills that I previously thought were too steep for bikes, it is a bit more challenging. I spent a lot of time in my lowest gear.

The destination was well worth the hard work. We went to a winery/olive oil place. There we ate a picnic lunch - sandwiches with olive oil and wine. Both were grown from the vines and trees we could see down the hill. Pretty fantastic. Then we got a tour of their winery and a lesson in how olive oil is made, finishing with a short wine tasting.

The group we went with was made up of five girls. We were all at approximately the same fitness level - which made me happy because before we left some were talking about bikes with clip in pedals and they sounded pretty intense. I was intimidated.

Afterward Liz and I treated ourselves to showers and gelato - Pistachio, Crema di Grom, and Apricot!"

- 6/10/2009

Could you be any closer to the edge?

2009-08-25T19:51:00.000-04:00

{Amsterdam}

Sidewalk Chalk

2009-08-24T21:14:00.001-04:00

Everyday there would be half a dozen chalk artists outside the Uffizi museum creating facsimilies like this one for tips.

Florence and the Duomo

2009-08-23T13:33:00.002-04:00

"I love Florence. It is my favorite place that we have been!! There's so much architecture. The people are super friendly. And food is cheap!

Yesterday, after we got to our hostel, we eneded up at the Duomo -- Florence's most massive and beautiful church. After we walked through it, I saw a sign for free tours. I asked about it and the woman behind the table said she was a student and just needed the practice. The tour was okay, a few too many details that went in one ear and out the other, but she was quite impressive. She spoke four languages -- Arabic was her first, but she was also fluent in English, Italian and French. Half way through, some Italian speaking tourists joined the tour, and so she would say something in English, and then repeat it in Italian!" --6/9/2009

Duomo on the left, Santa Croce on the right, River Amo in front.

The next day we returned to ascend the dome: 464 steps. I couldn't believe how huge the paintings were on the inside of the dome. Then we got to go outside on top of the dome and see a 360 degree view of all of Florence. It was beautiful.

Part of the mural close up. It was really, really big.

View from on top of the Duomo. Tuscan hills making the back drop for Florence and Santa Croce.

The dome's view of the basilica.

Liz and I pose in front of Florence and the Duomo.

Venice in 10,000 Words

2009-08-21T22:11:00.005-04:00

Venice was so beautiful, that I don't think I can capture it in words. So here are ten of the many pictures I took during the four days we were there.

Scala Contarini del Bovolo

In front of San Marco's Basilica. This is the square that flooded knee high during high tide.

Looking at San Marco from another angle.

The view from Per Rialto.

The Venice Museum hostel. A beautiful building, stuffed with bunk beds.

The Bridge of Sighs... was under construction... so they put huge advertisements all around it.

Another ad placed over a construction site. This one was for a watch.

Tallest Bed Ever

2009-08-21T12:27:00.000-04:00

When I got to Pittsburgh, the previous occupant of my room left some useful furniture: a bed and a bookshelf. The bed was extremely comfortable, but it was very low to the ground. So I scoured craig's list and found a great box spring to add to it. Unfortunately, I didn't ask the height of the box spring. I just assumed it was six or seven inches. In fact, it is a foot high! So I got what I asked for: a taller bed. It is so tall, in fact, that I have to hop a bit in order to get onto it.

Peggy Guggenheim Collection

2009-08-20T22:40:00.008-04:00

So, after a brief hiatus, I am back to Europe posts.

The morning after our midnight San Marco's wade, Liz and I went to the Peggy Guggenheim museum. This was definitely a highlight of Venice for me. The museum is actually Peggy's home, but the furniture was removed and it was transformed into a gallery for the pieces she collected. I found two pieces to be particularly excellent: "Bed Head" by Calder, and "developable surface" by Antoine Pevsner.

Peggy actually commissioned Calder to make a silver bedhead for her, and this was the result. I would not be averse to sleeping under it, either.

There were two sculptures by Antoine Pevsner, and both grabbed me at first glimpse. Now that I'm in the states and have done a bit more research on the artist, I think I know why I liked his work so much. He says, "Art must be inspiration controlled by mathematics. I have a need for peace, symphony, orchestration." I love it!

And finally, a picture of Peggy on her private gondola in Venice. She loved her dogs so much that she had her ashes placed next to where they were buried in her garden.

Quit Bugging Me!

2009-08-20T13:13:00.000-04:00

My landlady asked if I wanted a window A/C unit in my bedroom. I declined, since I generally think they are noisy and just block natural light. However, once I got into my new room, I realized that there is very little airflow, and that it was unpleasantly hot -- so much so that it was difficult for me to sleep. So, I emailed my landlady (who I knew was out of town) and asked if I could please, please, please have a window A/C unit. She said sure (I really like her). She said she'll install one when she gets back into town this weekend, but until then I can try one that has been sitting in the basement. Excellent!

Well, I went down to the basement and carried it upstairs (actually, Nick did most of the carrying while I held the cord so he wouldn't trip). It is in pretty bad shape -- the front cover has been ripped off, the right expander has a hole in it and the left one is missing completely, it drips condensation, and it sounds like an ill-maintained VW Beetle engine. Despite all of that, it cools magnificently. So I am quite content, though I won't reject the new one that's going in on Saturday. However, all of this is slightly off-topic for this post.

As I said, the expanders are not useful (these are the accordion plastic things that stretch out to either side of the window frame so that there are no holes). In their stead I have placed two pieces of cardboard and an expired license plate. Not surprisingly, this has left a few gaping holes. Because of this, several large bugs have found their way into my bedroom. And by large, I mean HUGE! None of them have been particularly nasty (wasps, mosquitoes, spiders, anything that can bite), but they are in the "too big to kill" category. Today I was visited by an inch long beetle that was almost an inch wide. This evening I got a grasshopper and a moth simultaneously. The grasshopper was over 3 inches long (bigger than my new fish)! And the moth had about a two inch wing span. I caught and released all three using a tupperware container. I had to catch the moth twice, since it flew back inside immediately after I released it.

If only I had found these bugs sooner, I could have mailed them to Abby for her students' insect collections. :)

Trucks, Buses, Planes, and Fish

2009-08-19T21:58:00.003-04:00

Yesterday Nick and I returned the truck (fully fueled and with five minutes to spare). From there we walked to a nearby bus stop and took the 91A downtown. Next we got on the 28X Airport Flyer which took us to the Pittsburgh Airport (and right past a huge shopping center). I said my goodbyes to Nick, knowing that I wouldn't get to see him again before he leaves for Turkey for two years, and hopped back on the 28X to go home.

Of course I was feeling a bit sad and lonely, so instead of taking the bus directly home, I stopped at the shopping center and went into PetCo to find a pet to keep me company. That's where I purchased Felix, my new betta! He is a beautiful shade of indigo -- slightly red at the base of his fins, sweetly changing into royal blue at the tips. And he's extremely curious. He likes to swim all around his one gallon tank, and peer out at what's going on in the room. He's even comfortable enough to start building a bubble nest (not that it will be used, since there are no female bettas nearby). He does, however, take offense to the food I give him. I think the food pellets are too big for him, because he won't eat them unless I break them up before I throw them in. Anyway, welcome home Felix! I hope you like it here as much as I do!

Pretty in Pink

2009-08-12T12:20:00.000-04:00

My step-mom, knowing that I am packing everything up and getting rid of a large quantity of stuff, suggested that I donate my ginormous collection of yarn to the YMCA knitters. This was an excellent idea! I very rarely knit anymore, and due to a large number of gifts of yarn over many years, I had amassed more skeins of mohair, plush, wool, and fun-fur than I care to admit. However, in going through my big bags of yarn, I found a plethora of unfinished projects. The sight of so many unfulfilled plans saddened me. So, I was moved to make one more piece before giving most of it away. The result: a pink and purple scarf for Abby. I had the initial idea for this scarf in high school, but never quite got around to making it. And now that she is spending the next year teaching 2^nd and 3^rd graders, it seems even more perfect.

I used every kind of yarn I owned that fell in my color scheme. I also wanted it to look like it could have been dreamed up by one of Abby's students, thus the frequent switching of colors and yarns. Because I wanted to switch colors frequently and in the middle of a row, I left the ends unfinished and sticking out in various places. The explosion of colors in the scarf hides them pretty well. Also, I think it adds to the "made by a third grader" look that I was going for. I'll stop making up excuses for my lazy knitting, now.

I'm setting this post to go up ten days late, so Abby ought to have received it in the mail by now. Surprise!

San Marco's at High Water

2009-08-08T16:44:00.000-04:00

We heard during dinner at the hostel that San Marco's plaza was flooded. We and four other girls decided to go check it out. When we walked down to the first floor of our hostel the entryway was already flooded. This was a normal thing for them. We waded to the front door and were able to keep our feet dry until we got to San Marco's. There it was, the whole plaza, calf deep in water. When we arrived, the live band on a platform by a restaurant was playing the theme to Titanic.

We waded through with the dozens of other people enjoying the romantic setting. Several couples were dancing through the water to the music. We left shortly after the bells in the clock tower struck midnight. We could already tell the water level was decreasing. when we got back I scrubbed my feet thoroughly in the shower. The locals warned heavily about not going into canal water. Happily my health does not appear to have been negatively affected by the excursion.

Reading Wikipedia has taught me that, although most people there called it high tide, it was actually "high water" (Acqua Alta), which is a combination of several contributing factors, but is primarily caused by high winds from storms and the natural tide.

Lido Beach - rain or shine

2009-08-07T12:33:00.001-04:00

We woke up to go to Lido beach, but looked outside to see a cold and cloudy day. No matter. We were determined to go (well, Liz was determined to go...). There are only two forms of transportation in Venice: walking and boating. I was nice not to watch out for bikes and wait for traffic. Since Lido is too far for a bridge to be connected to the main islands, we were required to pay 6.50 euros ($9) to cram onto a standing room only boat. When we landed on Lido we walked across the width of it to get to the beach. The moment we stepped onto the sand the sun came out and warmed us for the remainder of the afternoon. After a small snack we paid 6.50 euros again to take the canal bus back to the main islands. The boats are so jammed full of people; exactly the way you would dread foreign public transportation to be. But it was a boat! So it was awesome. It offered a really spectacular view of Venice that you can't get from land.

Four years in the making

2009-08-07T02:31:00.005-04:00

I started knitting this hat four years ago. It was a project that could have been completed *very* quickly if it had not been forgotten so many times. This evening I picked it up, and after 30 minutes of knitting, and 40 minutes of assembling I completed it.

The hat was originally meant for Melissa -- so she could keep warm and sport IU colors while playing clarinet during long cold football games. Alas, Melissa played her last game this season. Luckily my father said he would be interested in wearing the hat himself. Of course, that was before I added the cute pom-pom on the top.

The pattern for this cap is one of my favorites because it is so simple. First knit a rectangle. Sew two sides together to make a cylinder. Run a piece of yarn through the top edge and pull it like a draw string to bunch up the fabric at the top of the hat. Add optional pom-pom. Voila! A hat is born!

The Venice Museum

2009-08-06T16:23:00.001-04:00

"The beautiful and chaotic Venice Museum hostel was our first introduction to Italy. Despite the unorganized staff, they manage to serve free breakfast and dinner daily. The house that the hostel is in has huge arching stair cases and vaulted ceilings with chandeliers. There are cherubs in the moulding and murals of Venetian landscapes painted on the walls. Of course, there are also twelve bunk beds shoved in the room -- but still, it's very romantic. "

-6/5/2009

I was not so diligent about keeping my journal updated while I was in Venice. The Venice Museum staff complained about their electricity bill, and it looked like they had unscrewed a few of the light bulbs (or just neglected to replace them), so it was hard to write, since it was dark all the time.

International Wrapping

2009-08-05T23:56:00.004-04:00

On Friday I will be riding with my mom and my aunt to Fort Wayne, Indiana to visit my grandparents. While I am there I will deliver the gifts I bought for them in Europe. Being currently unemployed, I decided to take some extra time in wrapping the scarf I intend to give to my grandma (they don't have internet, so this post won't spoil the surprise).

I bought the scarf at a shop just outside the Vatican; however, I wanted to include other parts of the trip with the wrapping, thus the Eiffel tower key chain (which I bought when I saw the tower for the first time) and the L seal.

I had wanted a seal like this for years, but never found one that was just right. That is until I went to Venice. Liz and I walked into a wonderful shop that was devoted entirely to stationery and writing. The owner was the most amicable person I've ever met. Not only did he take time to demonstrate how to melt the wax, stamp the seal ("hold for one... two... two and a half... three"), and then add the gold paint with my finger, he also engaged us in conversation with his well practiced English. For the following three days that we were in Venice, whenever we would walk by his shop he would shout out to us, "Ciao, Indiana!"

I was, therefore, very anxious to use it for the first time on this gift! I think it was a successful purchase.

Notre Dame de la Garde

2009-07-31T15:30:00.005-04:00

We had only one day in Marseilles, so after dropping off our bags we left the hotel and went sight seeing. Our primary stop: Notre Dame de la Garde. It is a church perched on the top of a hill overlooking the entire city. Most people don't realize how big Marseilles really is (I didn't). With a population of 1 million it is, besides Paris, the largest city in France, and you can see the entirety of it from this hill. Liz suggested we take a train to the top. I, being very lazy, agreed. However, when we got to the start of the train there were no tracks... very curious. In fact, we were not going on the romantic and sophisticated train ride up the mountain that I had envisioned -- it was better. Most people have seen the trams at theme parks that will take people to the far-away parking lots. They are basically a big golf cart in the front with several passenger cars hooked onto one another trailing behind. This "train" was one of those... but decorated to look like a steam engine. It was fantastic! I felt like I was at Disney World. Liz and I sat in the very last row of the very last car. It was very exciting, but I was concerned we would not make it to the top... "I think I can; I think I can..."

ACM Awards Banquet (Not in Europe)

2009-07-27T00:26:00.009-04:00

Warning: This post is about computer related activities. There is no technical material, but you may not be interested. Just trying not to alienate my few non-nerdy friends.

October 2008 - Grace Hopper Conference:

It all began here. Well, actually, it all began with the research I did during the summer of 2007. But here is the beginning of this story. My advising professor urged me to enter the Student Research Competition sponsored by the ACM (Association for Computing Machinery). The first round of the competition was judged through a collection of poster sessions and presentations held at various conferences throughout the academic year. You could think of these as regional competitions.

Each entrant created a poster to submit (here's mine [pptx download]). At the conference we stood vigilantly by our posters for two hours (while others enjoyed free delicious food) answering the questions of passersby. Additionally, three unidentified judges would visit each of us and discretely critique our performance and our poster.

Here I am discussing my research with someone I guessed to be a judge due to her interest level and devotion to understanding and reading the entirety of my poster.

I was a finalist in the poster session competition, which allowed me to move on to the next round. This required a PowerPoint presentation for an audience of several judges the next day. At the end of the conference I was quite exhausted, but was honored to take home third prize, which came with a very nice engraved plaque. It also meant that I was eligible to enter the grand finals for the competition.

April 2009 - At My Apartment:

The grand finals were to be judged "via the web." In other words, I needed to make a website of my research. Luckily I had been working on a paper with my advising professor, and so a lot of the work was already behind me. I brought everything I had together and created this website. At the end of May I was notified that I had been selected as one of the three winners of the competition. I was ecstatic to say the least.

June 2009 - ACM Awards Banquet:

The winners were all invited to the ACM Awards Banquet in San Diego. The Banquet is held each year to recognize professionals and academics who have made significant contributions to the field or to the organization. The most notable awardee was Barbara Liskov, the winner of the Turing award - the Nobel prize for computer science. It was a privilege to attend the ceremony and to meet so many of the giants in the field that I had previously only read about or heard give presentations. Meeting Telle Whitney was one such experience. She is the CEO of the Anita Borg Institute for Women and Technology and a co-founder of the Grace Hopper Conference. I borrowed the following photo, taken at the Awards Banquet, from her blog: Tech Her.

If you're still with me after this long post, I'd just like to thank the huge number of volunteers who made the competition possible, along with the ACM and Microsoft Research for funding the whole thing. It was truly an experience of a lifetime.

Poor Purchase

2009-07-26T15:28:00.000-04:00

I made a mistake when I purchased the cheapest 20 inch duffel bag that Target had in stock. It was the perfect size for lugging around on trains and through various hostels, but the quality was less impressive. By the time we reached Rome I had mended eight separate tears. I was quite concerned that it wouldn't make it through the checked luggage back to America. But, with my needle and thread, I limped it along for the entire month and I'm happy to report there was no additional damage on the flight home. Of course, some of the rips were perhaps caused by my attempts to shove more new purchases in the bag at every stop.

Ticketless

2009-07-25T15:49:00.000-04:00

"When we got on the train to Marseilles, I put my ticket in the pocket in the back of the seat in front of me for safe keeping and easy access. Minutes later the ticket slipped through the bottom of the pocket and down a slit in the back of the chair - I expected it to drop onto the floor, but there was no opening at the bottom. It was gone forever, consumed by the ticket hungry chair. I worried that when the train attendant found me ticketless he would toss me from the train - barely slowing down. Luckily Liz was there to explain my situation to him in French. He was understanding, he laughed at me a bit, but overall he was understanding."

- 6/1/2009

Indiana and Flunch

2009-07-24T22:13:00.000-04:00

Food was very expensive in France. Liz and I primarily lived on bread an fruit. We ate at restaurants only twice, and both times were disastrous.

The first: Indiana
We decided we had to eat there because of its name... It had a picture of an Indian on the front of it, and served Tex-Mex food. I ordered a quesadilla because at $10 it was the cheapest thing on the menu. The food arrived and it was a really small tortilla with not-all-the-way-melted cheese. Very disappointing, especially after such an exciting name for the restaurant.

The second: Flunch
This was in Aix en Provence, the town Liz stayed in for her study abroad. Liz said she and the other American students ate there at least once a week. After all, it was all you can eat for $8.50, which was a steal in France. I was very excited about it, until I saw and tasted the food. All you can eat is not worth it if all you can eat are the French fries. It gave me a stomach ache for the rest of the day.

Google Chrome and my Summer Internship

2009-07-24T09:41:00.010-04:00

Please allow me to take a short break from my Euro-Trip blogging to tell you some good news and some bad news.

Bad:

I visited Google last month and was informed over a delicious Google lunch that my project had been scrapped. This means it will not be released to the public, and I can therefore never discuss it with anyone. Very sad.

Good:

My host went over to work on Google Chrome (Google's web browser). When I emailed him recently he said that some of my code is now being used in Google Chrome! I love Google Chrome! I have no idea how my code is being used, or even which parts of it, but it is comforting to know it has not been deleted entirely.

If you are a geek, and you would like to read the web comic about Google Chrome, go here. If you are interested in downloading a super fast browser that looks nicer than Explorer and Firefox, go here, you'll never look back.

Rollerblading

2009-07-22T12:10:00.002-04:00

Liz and I rented skates and went rollerblading through the streets of Paris with 6,500 others. It looked something like this person's video:

Star Struck

2009-07-22T00:46:00.001-04:00

On our way back to the hotel one evening in Paris, we came upon the movie opening for Terminator Salvation. The red carpet was rolled out and the press was making a big deal over this guy, yelling, "McG, McG, over here, McG!" Neither Liz nor I knew who he was, but not wanting to miss a star opportunity, I took a picture. It turns out he was the director of the film.

After the press was done, there was a mad dash for the Terminator posters that lined the sidewalk. Liz and I, again not wanting to miss out, begged the security guard (and batted our eyelashes) to grab one for us. He obliged. Unfortunately we abandoned the bulky poster in Marseilles, as it turned out to be much to heavy to lug through Italy.

Panthéon in Paris

2009-07-21T15:07:00.003-04:00

"Today has been amazing. Yep, one more fantastic day. We began at the Panthéon. It was beautiful. I think it is my favorite site so far. The huge ceilings with the parallel columns made the space feel massive, unending. I felt like I could see the whole thing from every place I stood since it was so open. And I loved the pendulum in the middle, constantly proving the world is spinning. It had such a flawless and fluid motion, I had to take a video."

- 5/30/2009 9:00pm

But wait, there's more. Below the beautiful structure is a crypt with many tombs, including that of: Voltaire, Berthelot, Rousseau, Victor Hugo, Emile Zola, Jean Moulin, Marie Curie, Louis Braille, and Jean Jaures. (Okay, I did not write that list from memory or my journal, I just copied it from Wikipedia.)

Empty Tomb.

The inventor of Braille.

The Louvre

2009-07-20T18:30:00.002-04:00

The Louvre has many complicated rules about who gets what discount on what day and time. For example, Liz and I went for free because on Fridays after 6pm there is free entry for anyone under 25. This gave us four hours to tour the museum. Hardly enough time to view even one wing, but for me it was the perfect amount of time to spend there for one day.

Here we are in front of I. M. Pei's pyramid. Now I must insert the fact that I. M. Pei also designed the Indiana University Art Museum.

Of course I saw the Mona Lisa and Venus de Milo, but I think my favorite collection was Napoleon's apartments. Chandeliers the size of a VW bug.

-5/29/2009

Bike Thief

2009-07-20T09:15:00.006-04:00

For our first full day in Paris we went on a bike tour. We found bike tours to be an excellent way to take a day off from walking and get acquainted with a new city. The Parisian bike tour was slightly more dangerous than the one in Amsterdam due to a lack of proper bike lanes and an increase in crazy traffic.

The bike tour took a lunch break at a café stand in the Jardin des Tuileries. We parked our bikes in a row right next to the café. In the middle of the meal someone yelled - "Hey, someone is stealing our bikes!" Our tour guide sprang out of his chair and sprinted after them. He tackled the slower one to the ground and went after the second guy. But, seeing his fallen buddy and half the café wait staff running toward him, the thief hopped off the bike voluntarily. When the guide and waiters returned with the bikes, everyone at the outdoor café cheered. It was quite eventful. Liz and I agreed that this added value to the tour.
- 5/28/2009

Amsterdam -> Paris

2009-07-19T11:19:00.006-04:00

We took a short train ride to the Hague, where we ended up at the wrong station (my fault — we went to Den Haag CS, instead of Den Haag HS), but after another very short train ride we were ready to board a bullet train from the Hague to Paris. This sketch is approximate and may not accurately represent our train. City distances are not drawn to scale.

- 5/27/2009

Museum Pass in Amsterdam

2009-07-18T22:08:00.003-04:00

After our visit to the Hague, we returned to Amsterdam for two more days of touring. We bought the I AMsterdam card, which allowed us access to all the museums we wanted to see for 24 hours. A marathon event, you could say.

Rijks Museum: Under construction so everything was very compact. Lots of Rembrandt, who I don't seem to like very much, and a few Vermeer. I liked the Mauritshuis better.

Old Church (Oude Kerk): Had a world press photography gallery in it, which was very impressive. The strange thing about this 14th century church is the neighborhood that sprung up around it - the Red Light District. Such stark contrast between the church and the prostitutes across the street from it.

New Church (Nieuwe Kerk): Very similar to old church, so not as exciting, however I found the height of the ceilings quite astonishing. It was built in the 15th century, to accommodate the growing population of Amsterdam.

Van Gogh Museum: Really interesting to see the progression of his work, but also a bit monotonous to see only works by one artist. My favorite - Almond Blossom.

We ended the day at a sandwich shop where I indulged in some Tom Yum soup. Yum.

- 5/26/2009

Far Away Relatives

2009-07-18T15:00:00.000-04:00

Meeting my cousin (*ahem* third cousin once removed, but what difference does that make?) was a highlight for my trip. We had corresponded about our shared family history a few times (see lospolin.blogspot.com and lospolin.pbworks.com), and when I told her Elizabeth and I would be in Amsterdam, she invited us to stay with her family in the Hague. I have to say that the Hague was even more beautiful than Amsterdam. The Parliament buildings were my favorite.

Elizabeth, Marisa, and I in front of Parliament.

The first evening we were there I experienced my first trilingual meal: English, Spanish, and Dutch. Their son learned Dutch and Spanish from his father and mother, and English from the internet and TV. Marisa is an artist and you can see some of her wonderful work at marisapolin.blogspot.com.

While we were in the Hague, we...

visited the Mauritshuis Museum,

saw Vermeer's Girl with a Pearl Earring,

traveled Delft,

drank Hoegaarden in a bar,

went to a gallery opening,

ate gyros and olives,

ate real home cooked Mexican food,

relaxed in a Japanese garden,

enjoyed bike rides in proper bike lanes,

put our feet (or in my case, just my toes) in the North Sea,

and ate salt cured herring by the tail.

— 5/23 - 5/25/2009

Bike Tour of Amsterdam

2009-07-17T20:45:00.001-04:00

Our bike tour took us from the center of Amsterdam, just beyond the city limits and into the countryside. We made stops at a few good photo places including a Picasso statue in a park (the only public Picasso besides the one in Chicago), and a replica of an old Dutch windmill. You can see the pose our tour guide forced us to take before snapping our picture.

Our destination was a cheese farm where they make wooden shoes. The outrageous prices told me it was a tourist trap, but the free samples made my tummy happy. The whole ride was just over four hours.

— 5/22/2009

If you're going to Amsterdam and looking for an excellent tour, I highly recommend the company we used: Mike's Bike Tours. Our tour guide, Petra, was also lovely!

Jet Lagged on The Vita-Nova

2009-07-17T10:43:00.000-04:00

"We are staying in the Vita-Nova. It's a house boat on a canal near the central train station and the public library. Don't worry, it's well anchored, so there's no chance of canal sickness. We have a private room that is seven feet squared and has bunked very narrow beds, a sink and a mirror, a tiny closet, and a table and chair. We also have a tiny porthole. It's perfect!

We wanted to go on a walking tour of the city today - thought it would be a good introduction - but we had an hour to kill before the tour started. One thing led to another and we fell asleep... and overslept. Missed the tour by five minutes. Alas, I think the nap was worth it."

— 5/21/2009 6:10pm

Our view from the Vita Nova. That is Sint Nicolaaskerk in the background. We tried to visit it several times, but it was never open (eventhough it should have been according to its hours of operation).

Indiana ✈ Amsterdam

2009-07-16T22:57:00.011-04:00

Our Travel Itinerary:
May 19:
10:00pm Drive from Indy to Chicago
04:00am Fall asleep on Liz's brother's dorm room floor
May 20:
06:30am Wake up
07:30am Catch trains to Midway
12:27pm Midway ✈ Atlanta Departure
05:15pm Atlanta ✈ Amsterdam Departure
May 21:
08:15am Arrive in Amsterdam

There were no issues with traveling, excepting my inability to sleep on the international flight and the Atlanta airport worker mistaking Liz as my twin, so we arrived in Amsterdam right on time:

"Crossing the English Channel — landing gear is down — I am officially a European tourist!
Holland is beautiful, and all I've seen of it is about 15 minutes from the air. There is SO much water - it looks like the farms are floating rather than water flowing over land. And so many different crops - one field is green, the next yellow, then brown, then livestock (cows maybe?), then a plot of trees all in rows. None of the fields are in a typical Midwestern grid, instead they follow the water patterns. I saw a highway round-about! Who knew those existed? And a beautiful cloudy sky over the North Sea. I can't wait to leave the plane."
— 5/21/2009 8:15am

My European Adventure

2009-07-16T22:38:00.002-04:00

While I was in Europe, I had infrequent internet access, which I attained primarily by stealing internet on my ipod touch. This meant that typing a blog post was rather laborious and hard on my thumbs. So instead, I limited the internet updates to 140 character tweets: twitter.com/smloos. Now that I am back in the U.S. and I have access to a full-size keyboard, I have had a few requests for full posts. I will oblige and recount my adventures by following my written travel journal. Hopefully you won't be too bored -- we went to many many museums and architectural marvels, which are wonderful to see in person, but may not be as interesting to read about.

Fort Wayne, Indiana

2009-05-13T20:47:00.003-04:00

At 7:00 this morning I started my trip to Fort Wayne. (It was only a three hour drive.) The pace of life here is much slower than the sleepless nights I had gotten used to during finals week and graduation.

Today, after being greeted by lots of hugs, I sat and chatted until lunch. Then I fell asleep, and was awakened just in time for dinner. After hand washing all the dishes, I took a short walk around the neighborhood with my mom, and returned just in time to see Jeopardy. Now, I'm about to be ushered out of the closing library where I've been mooching internet for half an hour. This is the good life. Too bad it won't last.

University of Washington

2009-04-22T22:39:00.004-04:00

In March I got to visit the University of Washington in Seattle. During the visit, I saw the world's first Starbucks and Pike Place Market (including fresh fish tossed through the air at customers). While I was there, I stayed with a current UW grad student. She lived in Fremont, so I also toured that area, which seems to be amassing a collection of over-sized statues. Both of the following pictures were taken within a few blocks of my host's apartment. (We passed almost a dozen coffee shops while we walked around. People in Seattle are crazy about them!)

This very intimidating troll guards the bridge he lives under. Luckily he isn't very spry, so Laura and I got to climb all over him.

Originally found in a dumpster in Russia, Lenin stands for sale here by an enterprising Fremont resident, who mortgaged his home to transport it back in the early 1990s. He felt the unique "workman's pose" of the statue distinguished it as art, and was his inspiration for rescuing it from the scrap yard. The current asking price is $250,000.

Latest Glaze

2009-04-20T23:29:00.005-04:00

Yesterday the Undergraduate Women in Informatics and Computing got to know each other over some artistic expression at Latest Glaze (a pottery painting studio in Bloomington). This was one of the two events I organized as the undergraduate co-president of WIC. It was actually very little work, since the owner of Latest Glaze is so organized.

Here are a few of the beautiful pieces we made:

Another Calder inspired piece from Nick.

A view of half the table.

My cup was covered with Tulips. I filled the inside with them, too. It turned out looking a bit more seasonal than I would have liked, but perhaps in the winter it will remind me of warmer days.

We'll get to see how they all turn out when we pick them up on Thursday! I can't wait!

Pittsburgh -- My New Home

2009-04-14T00:31:00.004-04:00

I decided that I was going to post about all of my travels, but I have not been doing very well. Anyway, I'll continue on to talk for a bit about my trip to Pittsburgh to visit CMU at the end of February.

It was amazing! The people there were extremely hospitable. Before my trip I was frequently told that CMU was great, but it was too bad I'd have to live in Pittsburgh if I went there. That's just not true. Pittsburgh (or at least the parts of it CMU introduced me to) was a lovely city. I loved how the industrial setting came out of the natural beauty of western Pennsylvania without overpowering it: steel bridges over lots of rivers, tall buildings in an urban center close to campus, all nestled in rolling green hills. I imagine it will be spectacular in Autumn... but biking will be more strenuous than my flat Kansas home.

There were lots of reasons, beyond the city itself, why I chose to attend CMU in the Fall, but I'm sure you can guess most of them, so I won't drag on with them here. I'll just say that I'm thrilled about joining this university and making Pittsburgh my home for the next 5-7 years. I think I will thrive there.

Arlington

2009-03-26T20:20:00.010-04:00

It has been a while since I've posted, but not because I don't have anything to say! This has been a busy semester full of traveling, so I'll try to catch everyone up.

At the beginning of February I flew out to Arlington to interview for a Gates Cambridge Scholarship. I thought the interview went really well, but alas, there were many *amazing* candidates, so they did not offer a scholarship to me. Still, I had a fun time in Arlington.

Actually, I flew in to Washington National, and took a shuttle out to Arlington. I spent less than 24 hours on the East coast, and over 8 of them were in the airport or a car. For some reason it hadn't occurred to me that I would be driving through D.C. on the way to Arlington. The shuttle driver had to drop off several people around the city. I got quick glimpses of the National Mall and a couple other land marks.

Anyway, while I was there I met lots of cool people. Unfortunately it felt like they were all either from the East coast or California. Although I did make one friend who grew up in Kansas.

Luckily we were able to tour around the very cute city of Annapolis before our interview. Here I am in front of the capitol building with my Kansas/Ivy-league friend.

On the way back to the airport, I was prepared for driving by land marks and had my camera ready. My shuttle driver was awesome and said we had time for a detour that would take us by several photo opportunities. The following blurry pictures result.

The geese were migrating.

Fluency

2008-12-21T03:51:00.002-05:00

Every graduate school has a different procedure for filling out applications. Sometimes the department you're applying to will have its own application, and sometimes you must submit a general application for graduate school at the university. In the case of the latter, I've found a few institutions that have a section titled "Languages", and then they provide space for you to list the ones you know. I'm a bit rusty on my Spanish, but I listed it anyway, and then it occurred to me that there are many languages I know much better than I know Spanish: Scheme, C++, and Python, for example. I was very tempted to add these to the list, but I restrained myself. Better to err on the side of professionalism, I suppose.

This reminds me of a story. While I was walking through the crowded halls of the 2008 Grace Hopper conference, I overheard one of many conversations going on between an industry recruiter and a student interviewee. It went something like this:

Recruiter: "What languages do you know?"

Student: "Well, I speak some Spanish, and a little German."

Recruiter: "Oh, that's great, but I was actually wondering what programming languages you're familiar with."

Student: "Oh, yeah, of course..."

This reminds me of another story (I promise, it will be the last one for this post). It was my first interview for a 'professional' job/internship, and I hadn't quite finished my freshman year. It was with a very nice recruiter from General Mills:

Recruiter: "What languages do you know?"

Me: "I speak Spanish."

Recruiter: "Oh, that's great, but I was actually wondering what programming languages you're familiar with."

Me: "Oh, yeah, of course..."

Everyone has to start somewhere. :)

Halloween in a Cave

2008-11-07T19:01:00.002-05:00

This year I spent Halloween in a cave with three hundred candles. Needless to say, it was much cooler than the endless walking from door-to-door in an uncomfortable costume and then getting sick on candy afterward.

Family Tree #2

2008-11-06T00:34:00.003-05:00

Just another reason to look through your family photo albums and take a look into your history... you might find photos like this one from the late 1920s.

Successful Swapping

2008-11-06T00:27:00.002-05:00

Last weekend one of my neighbors organized a clothing swap. This is the best idea ever. I can't believe I've never participated in one before! Sure, I had hand-me-downs as a kid, but this is so much cooler. In one activity I was able to clean out my closet, get cute new clothes for free, and have an awesome time dressing up and munching on cookies with friends. Oh, and the left overs went to charity, so we did some good, too.

Family Tree

2008-11-02T19:50:00.004-05:00

This weekend I took informtaion that had been collected by relatives in California, Mexico and the Netherlands, and I created a family tree wiki. I am very excited about this, and have wanted to do it for a really long time. Here is the site I created:

www.lospolin.pbwiki.com

I know that most of the people who read my blog are not interested in my family history, but I will urge you to look into your own family's history. You might meet relatives you didn't know you had... people spread through all corners of the world over a century. Maybe, like me, you'll find ties to a Mexican President. Perhaps you'll find out that you're related to one of the first women photographers in California. Or you'll learn about a nature reserve in Tasmania that was started by a great uncle.

You know what they say, "You can't know where you're going unless you know where you've been."

Kohler's Chimps

2008-10-10T01:18:00.004-04:00

This week, in my extremely interesting psychology class, we learned about Kohler's chimps. Kohler was observing how chimps learn by creating puzzles for them to solve in order to get their reward: a banana. First he put them in a barn where they could see the banana outside through a crack in the door. They couldn't reach the banana, so they tried to use a bamboo pole that was in the barn. This was too short, so they took two poles and stuck one inside the other to make a longer pole and reach the banana. For the next task, Kohler hung a banana so that it was too high for the chips to reach, but he left a couple of crates in the barn with them. They stacked the crates and got the banana.

Next he hung the banana again, but left only poles in the barn. While the chimps were still working out how to solve the puzzle, Kohler came in to feed them. One of the chimps, in a very pouty sort of way, took him by the hand and led him over to the banana. As soon as they were underneath it, she dropped his hand and climbed up him onto his shoulders and snatched her snack -- proof that most problems have more than one solution. Eventually the chimps learned a sort of pole vaulting techniqe where they scurried up the pole and grabbed the banana before the pole fell over.

Photos are from Kohler's book "The Mentality of Apes", published in 1925.

Flight Introduction

2008-10-05T12:52:00.002-04:00

Last weekend was the Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing. It was an amazing conference, and I'll post more on that when I've gathered some photos and videos to include.

However, I wanted to talk about my enjoyable flight back from Denver. I was seated next to a lovely family with three young children. Next to me was the oldest one. As soon as I sat down he asked if I prefered to talk or to sleep. I told him I enjoy talking. A while later in the flight his dad asked what I study at IU, and I replied Computer Science and Math, and the boy said, "me too!" Then he continued saying that Science was his favorite subject.

At the end of the flight he leaned over and whispered something to his dad and his dad said, "Ask her." So he asked if I have ever made a website. I said I had, and he asked if I could tell him how to do it. So I gave him info about blogger and told his dad that they could protect it so that only certain accounts could view it. Then I told his dad about Scratch, a programming tool that lets kids make games and animated stories.

I sense a Computer Scientist in the making.

P.S. Adam, if you have any questions about making your website, you can leave a comment here.

Library Receipts

2008-09-21T17:03:00.003-04:00

I love getting books from the library and finding old check out receipts stuck in the pages - someone's left over book mark. This tells you the last time someone has checked out that particular book, and maybe even how far they read in it. The last book I checked out hadn't been read in 15 years.

I wonder which book has been sitting in the library the longest. There are probably quite a few that have never been read (the numerous shelves of doctoral dissertations come to mind). Poor lonely books.

Here Comes the Rain

2008-09-13T23:52:00.003-04:00

Yesterday there was a thunderstorm in Bloomington that caused flash flooding. As I was walking from one class to another through water that flowed well over my ankle, I realized I wasn't upset about the downpour. In fact, I was rather enjoying it. Perhaps if I hadn't been without rain for the whole summer I would have felt differently, but I just couldn't help splashing through the streets as I went (though I don't think the other people on the street fully appreciated my splashing).

Sarah Palin's Political Career

2008-09-06T13:04:00.005-04:00

It all started when she crossed over from simple 'hockey mom' to a member of the PTA (Parent-Teacher Association). From that starting point to now, 16 years later, her career has taken off at an astonishing pace.

1992: Wasilla City Council

1996: Mayor of Wasilla, population 5,469

2002: Lost campaign for Lieutenant Governor of Alaska

2003: Chaired the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission

2006: Governor of Alaska, population 683,478

2008: ??? Vice President of the United States, pop 305,054,000 ???

It is unfortunate that the first woman on a strong presidential/vice presidential ticket is such a weak candidate. Her political stance on equal pay, abstinence only sex education, and abortion would limit the rights of American women. If elected, I fear her inexperience will cause her to be a poor leader, and thus a poor example of what a female leader can be. I believe electing Governor Palin would be a step backward for women's rights and the feminist movement, not to mention a poor choice of leadership for the entire nation.

Cow Compass?

2008-09-05T01:05:00.002-04:00

Researchers have used Google Earth to observe how animals rest or graze and found that cows (and deer) tend to face either north or south. They believe that the animals have some sort of internal compass which detects the Earth's magnetic field and causes this behavior.

Listen to the story on npr here.

Picnic Part II

2008-09-01T17:05:00.002-04:00

The picnic was great. So much food. And a surprisingly empty park for Labor Day. We were even able to score picnic tables in a shelter.

Potluck Picnic

2008-09-01T00:36:00.016-04:00

My roommate and I decided to organize a potluck picnic for all the people we've been missing over the summer. This is also a great way for me to force myself to start cooking again now that all of my food is not being prepared for me by Google. The potluck is tomorrow, but I finished all of the cooking tonight.

I started off with something easy:

Rhodes Rolls

1 pkg Rhodes Dinner Rolls
1 baking sheet

Open package of frozen dinner rolls, place on cookie sheet, let rise 4 hours, bake in oven at 350 degrees for 15 minutes.

Then I moved onto a recipe that required multiple ingredients and is a staple food for a picnic. This is my favorite pasta salad recipe, which was given to me by Lucas many years ago:

Lucas' Pasta Salad

1 pkg Rotini pasta
some Italian salad dressing
1 can black olives - sliced

Cook pasta by directions on box. Drain pasta in a colander then run under cold water to cool. Add Italian dressing and black olives to taste. This time I also added some cherry tomatoes from the farmer's market.

Next it was time for something sweet:

Great Grandpa Meyer's Favorite Candy

(These are sometimes called Hay Stacks, though not in my family)

1 bag stick pretzels
1 pkg chocolate bark (24 oz)
some marshmallows (optional)
a few feet of wax paper

Break pretzels in half. Melt chocolate according to directions on package. Slowly add pretzels (and marshmallows) while stirring into chocolate. This is the part where you'll need to call in your roommate for an extra pair of hands, because you need to stir quickly before the chocolate cools. Drop spoonfuls of the mixture on the wax paper. Let cool (the most difficult step of all).

Making the whole bag of pretzels will make about half a kitchen table of cookies. Luckily it's easy to only make a smaller amount at a time.

Finally I tried a more complicated recipe. It required me to 'cream margarine.' Sounded difficult to me. I'm not a huge fan of these cookies, but I think that's because they aren't super sweet, so we'll see how they are received at the picnic tomorrow.

Peanut Butter Peace Cookies*

1 c. margarine
4 T. white sugar
1/2 c. nuts chopped or
1/4 c. peanut butter
2 tsp. vanilla
2 c. flour
1/4 tsp. salt
powdered sugar for rolling in

Cream the margarine. Blend in the white sugar, chopped nuts or peanut butter, and vanilla. Sift together the flour and salt. Stir into the creamed mixture. Pinch off pieces and shape into small balls (think about rolling play-dough...) and place on ungreased baking sheet. Bake cookies at 325 degrees until lightly browned on the bottom (approximately 15 min). Let cookies cool. Roll in powdered sugar.

* The cookbook where I found this recipe (originally called "Italian Tea Cookies") gave a short story about the history of the cookie. The author said, "They are considered to act as a 'bridge of peace' linking together nations internationally." I'm not quite sure what that means, but because of the quote and the fact that the cookies taste like peanut butter (not tea), I took the liberty of renaming them. Also, my name has a slight alliteration, which is always an improvement.

I also made Jello, but I'm guessing most people aren't interested in how I did that.

Research

2008-08-31T12:22:00.002-04:00

Today I woke up to an email in my inbox from a post-graduate student from the University of Science, Malaysia. He was interested in the research I did last summer and wanted to ask me a few questions! I was incredibly flattered. (Nevermind the fact that in the version he found and was reading he thought the diagrams were confusing and couldn't figure them out... the reason he's emailing. Oh well, a new copy of the paper should hopefully clear that up.) I hope he replies to my email, I want to know more about what he's doing!

Home Again, Home Again

2008-08-30T18:33:00.004-04:00

I've been back in my Bloomington apartment for exactly one week. Welcome Week (the week when the Freshmen move in before classes start) is always my favorite week of the year. After I've moved in all of my boxes, I get to rearrange the furniture and organize everything the way I wished I had done it the year before (but was too lazy and busy to actually change anything). And with all of my free time before classes start I can actually spend time during the day reading in my living room, reconnecting with friends after the summer, and doing all sorts of things I enjoy. And let's not forget one of the best parts about Welcome Week, there is free food everywhere. It's a shame that classes will start on Tuesday and interrupt all of this fun.

Now that most things are unpacked (though we haven't hung the pictures yet, and my room still needs a little work), here are some photos of my apartment.

Lists

2008-08-25T19:37:00.002-04:00

While I was unpacking I found a stash of ticket stubs from last year. I thought I'd list them here before I threw them away.

A Prairie Home Companion
The Chieftains
RENT (in Indianapolis)
Plane Ticket from Indianapolis to Pittsburgh
Plane Ticket from Indianapolis to New York
NYC MetroCard
Dalai Lama of Tibet
Vagina Monologues
Chocolate Fest

Back Home Again In Indiana

2008-08-24T03:12:00.002-04:00

I got exactly nine bug bites while sitting around a camp fire next to a corn field, several cows, and a lamb. I know I'm in Indiana now. While I rather enjoy the cows and the fields, I had been enjoying a bug-bite free summer even more.

Hopefully the predicted thunderstorms will come through tomorrow, and I can finally run around in my first rain since the night before I left for California.

Snack Attack

2008-08-20T17:17:00.004-04:00

Every day at 3:00 at Google they would put out two types of fresh baked cookies at the kitchen by my desk.

Now that I am back in Indiana, I get no cookies. This makes me sad. Perhaps I could get my roommate to bake me cookies everyday at 3:00... unlikely.

It has been quite a shock to come home from Google, primarily because of the absence of delicious food. Today for lunch I toasted Flax and Fiber bread and spread Smart Balance light "butter" on it. That was my lunch. So depressing.

Is Coke different in Mexico?

2008-08-13T20:56:00.003-04:00

My team ate lunch at a Mexican themed cafe in Google today. We noticed that they had Coke in glass bottles (the kind that's sold in Mexico). Evidently this kind of cola uses sugar instead of high fructose corn syrup. I tried it and thought it was much better than regular coke. However, this wasn't enough proof for a group of engineers. We brought a regular coke and a Mexican coke back to our cube and proceeded to perform a blind taste test. A summary of the experiment and results follows.

Three people taste both kinds of soda, decide which they think is better, and which they think is the kind from Mexico.

We got six paper cups. A fourth person went into a separate office and labeled the cups 1-6. He then randomly assigned which cup was which drink and recorded the assignment on a legal pad. Then he distributed two cups to each participant.

Not only were we all able to determine which was the foreign beverage, but all three of us preferred it to domestic Coke. Two of us thought we could tell the difference just by smell, but the experiment was not designed for this, so those results are inconclusive.

Just one more reason why my co-workers are awesome.

Crab is Delicious

2008-08-11T04:25:00.002-04:00

... and this sea anemone agrees with me.

Perseids

2008-08-11T03:13:00.005-04:00

Monday night will be the peak of the Perseids meteor shower that has been going on since mid-July. I've already seen two shooting stars that I think have been a part of this shower, but I'll be going out to an empty field near by to watch the shower escalate to 90 meteors per hour tomorrow night.

The shower happens every year about this time. Last year I was stuck in Bloomington with no way to get out of the lights. Nevertheless, I sat on my roof for a while and saw no less than eight of the brightest shooting stars I'd ever seen. (Here's a time lapse video of last year's shower.)

So make sure to look up at the night sky tomorrow, wherever you are, and if you can see the stars, then you're in for a treat!

Mechatronics

2008-08-10T02:25:00.004-04:00

Are you bored? Do you have a bunch of scrap parts hanging around? Why not make a robot? Who says you need a degree in mechatronics just to build something cool? But do try not to burn down your house.

Mr Woo's Robots (China):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y4LIThTB8Ww

(Video find courtesy of Nick.)

White Water, Part II

2008-08-09T06:09:00.009-04:00

As promised, here is a picture of our boat.

Street View

2008-08-09T05:09:00.002-04:00

For those of you who don't use Google products religiously:
1. Shame on you.
2. Street View is a feature of Google Maps. It allows you to click on a street (or type in an address) and get a 360 degree view as if you were sitting in traffic in the middle of the street. They accomplish this by driving a car around this country (and others, including Japan and Australia) with eight cameras mounted on the top. The car looks like this.

Anyway, they decided to remap the Google campus and take a portrait of Googlers.

You can see me with some other interns here (under the red umbrella) or with the people I worked with here (I walked across the block so I'd get on it twice).

Before I'd even thought about working at Google, I thought it would be SO cool to be on street view, or even just to see the funny camera mounted car drive by. Google is just a place where magical dreams come true. Like Disney Land!

Places and Pictures

2008-08-09T04:56:00.010-04:00

A description of most of the fun stuff I did this summer can be found at www.alliterationhouse.blogspot.com, a blog that my roommates and I kept in California. However, in addition to the verbal descriptions, here's a list of some of the places I went this summer with links to other people's photos.

- San Francisco Tourism
- Alcatraz
- Haight-Ashbury
- Los Angeles
- RoboGames in San Francisco
- Lake Tahoe/Fourth of July
- Big Basin hiking in the redwoods
- Golden Gate Bridge with Mom
- Monterey
- Boat Cruise in the bay

White Water and Blue Skies

2008-08-07T00:23:00.002-04:00

Yesterday I went on an engineering off-site. Basically, Google pays for a subset of its employees to go out and have fun instead of coding for a day. A fantastic idea!

I opted to go White Water rafting rather than wine tasting (since I wouldn't be allowed) or go-kart and mini-golfing. I have to say, it was quite relaxing. Most of the river wasn't rapids, and our guide did all of the stressful steering. He'd shout forward or backward for one side or the other, and we would follow. No one even got thrown out of the boat. I suppose that's a good thing - can't be too rough on us software engineers.

Supposedly there are pictures, but I've yet to see them. I'll post them if I can.

Where do you get your books?

2008-08-06T03:14:00.004-04:00

Mountain View, having the high concentration of educated people that it does, has a large number of book stores, new and used, as well as a beautiful, high-tech library.

I could spend hours in the used book store. It is the largest and most densely packed place I've ever seen. Unfortunately it is quite expensive. Many of the books were being sold for more than they were priced when they were new! I decided that, due to the combined limiting factors of my suitcase and my wallet, if I found a book I really wanted to own, I would buy it online for cheaper and possibly get free shipping to Bloomington. Or I would walk across the street and check it out from the library.

I hope everyone else at the bookstore doesn't realize these convenient alternatives. I really enjoy browsing books, and it would be a shame if the used bookstores of the world started going out of business.

Ego and Hubris

2008-07-29T02:59:00.002-04:00

I've just started reading my first graphic novel. For those of you who aren't familiar with the style, it is essentially a comic book written for adults. The novel is "Ego and Hubris" by Harvey Pekar. If his name sounds familiar, it's possible that you watched the semi-obscure movie "American Splendor" based loosely on his life.

Harvey Pekar is by far the most cynical author I've ever read. A bit surprising since on first glance the novel looks like a little picture book. This concerns me quite a bit - I can imagine some poor person, bummed out, and looking for a light and funny comic to cheer them up. Unknowingly they pick up something by Pekar... and everything gets worse.

Luckily I've been in a great mood, so his dark humor is a perfect balance. Though I'm not sure how I feel about graphic novels in general... I like my Times New Roman font.

Finally, if you're wondering what has happened to my posting between March and now, it moved here temporarily while I was temporarily moved to California.

Spring Break, Woohoo

2008-03-19T00:44:00.004-04:00

For Spring break about four of my friends and I went with a group from IU to do a week long build for Habitat for Humanity. We stayed in Slidell, LA (near New Orleans) and worked on a site just across the border in Mississippi (state motto - It's like coming home).

I don't think I will ever be able to paint a house as well as I can right now. I've got about 40 hours experience. We painted the inside and the outside, the ceilings and the walls (and occasionally the floors, though not intentionally).

I had an amazing time in New Orleans. Everything was blooming in the Garden District, and the people were friendly and generally more interesting than your average Midwesterner. I loved the diversity of accents inside the city. Some of them sound like they were really from Brooklyn.

If you ever get the chance to visit, take it, and take me with you.

On This Site in 1897 Nothing Happened

2008-03-19T00:25:00.003-04:00

I found this sign posted in front of an old house in the Garden district of New Orleans. Perhaps if nothing happened to me for an entire year I would post a sign about it, too.

Hunting Liberals

2008-02-18T01:22:00.002-05:00

An overheard conversation among army soldiers in the Union (they evidently had some time to spare):

"What do you want to do?"
"Let's go find some liberals..." (insert punching motion here)

I considered making their search easier and turning myself in, but I was late for class, and I figured on the IU campus they wouldn't have to search too hard anyway.

Official Disappointment

2008-02-01T13:45:00.000-05:00

I went to the office of the Registrar to get an official transcript today. They asked me if I wanted the envelope sealed with the IU seal. I didn't actually need a seal on the envelope, but the idea of melting wax sealing the envelope and being imprinted with IU's seal was too cool to pass up. Unfortunately, after I said yes, she pulled out a regular ink stamp and stamped the envelope. Perhaps one of the more anticlimactic moments of my life.

On a Record Sleeve

2007-12-03T20:26:00.000-05:00

Here's How Records Give You More of What You Want:

1. They're your best entertainment buy. Records give you top quality for less money than any other recorded form... And once you've paid the price of admission, you can hear it over and over.

2. They allow selectivity of songs and tracks. With records it's easy to pick out the songs you want to play, or to play again a particular song or side... You can't do this as easily with anything but a phonograph record.

3. They're convenient and easy to handle. With the long-playing record you get what you want to hear, when you want to hear it, Everybody's familiar with records, too. And you can go anywhere with them because they're light and don't take up space.

4. They're attractive, informative and easy to store. Record albums are never out of place. Because of the aesthetic appeal of the jacket design, they're beautifully at home in any living room or library. They've also got important information on the backs... and because they're flat and not bulky, you can store hundreds in a minimum of space and still see every title.

5. They'll give you hours of continuous and uninterrupted listening pleasure. Just stack them up on your automatic changer and relax.

6. They're the proven medium. Long-playing phonograph records look the same now as when they were introduced in 1948, but there's a world of difference. Countless refinements and developments have been made to perfect the long-playing record's technical excellence and insure the best in sound reproduction and quality.

7. If it's in recorded form, you know it'll be available on records. Everything's on long-playing records these days... your favorite artists, shows, comedy, movie sound tracks, concerts, drama, documented history, educational material... you name it. This is not so with any other kind of recording.

8. They make a great gift because everybody you know loves music. And everyone owns a phonograph because it's the musical instrument everyone knows how to play. Records are a gift that says a lot to the person you're giving them to. And they keep on remembering.

AND REMEMBER... IT ALWAYS HAPPENS FIRST ON RECORDS.

Press Release

2007-12-03T19:16:00.001-05:00

I was in the Indiana Daily Student newspaper!

http://www.idsnews.com/news/story.aspx?id=57997&search=supercomputing%20&section=search#

Delayed

2007-11-19T19:57:00.000-05:00

Our flight back to Indiana last weekend was delayed (instead of getting back at 3:00am, we got back at 6:00am). Finding myself too brain-dead to play any real card game, and my lap top's battery too dead to accomplish any real work, I constructed a monument to IU.

Math in the Real World

2007-11-09T01:42:00.000-05:00

The symbol for recycling is actually a famous mathematical surface. Can anyone see what it is?

Reno/Thanksgiving

2007-11-07T00:38:00.000-05:00

On Saturday morning (somewhere around 5am) I'll be leaving Bloomington in a stretch SUV limo to the airport and then to Reno, NV. I'm going with about five other undergraduates from IU to compete in a Cluster Computing challenge at the Super Computing conference that will be there. I'll be gone for the whole week. I probably won't get any sleep during that time

Then I'll be home for a two day school week, and on that Tuesday I'll leave for Kansas City!! I'll be in KC until Sunday morning.

I am so excited about this trip, I can't even express it. Thinking about Kansas City and my friends there will be the only thing to get me through the next two weeks. See you all soon!

Math Joke:

What did one math book say to the other?

I've got problems.

Blast from the Past

2007-10-21T23:33:00.000-04:00

I visited my grandparents in Fort Wayne, IN this weekend. About a year ago I had told my grandpa that I was interested in a record player. This weekend he gave me a turn table, a stereo, and two speakers! Also, a few records from his own collection. So here's what I've been listening to:

Peter, Paul, & Mary
Dueling Banjos
Marty Robbin's Greatest Hits
Let's Dance to Big Hits
Boston Pops
25 Immortal Masterpieces

It has been a great way to avoid doing more homework.

Movie recommendation: Across the Universe. A musical with just Beatles music.

It's about time

2007-09-30T23:46:00.000-04:00

It has been too long since I have posted.

Things that have happened since August 28th:

Visited Chicago - saw the Bean
Taught my first solo lab section (11 students)
Went to New York City for the first time (so much bigger than I had imagined)
Attended a mostly traditional Punjabi wedding
Classes (including Racquetball)
Learned how to hook together a super computer from cluster nodes
Two exams, one paper (few enough not to complain)

Now looking toward the future. Next weekend I'll be going to Pittsburgh to give a talk at Carnegie-Mellon about the research I did this summer! I'm a little nervous, but the talk is only ten minutes long, so hopefully I can't mess it up too badly. Also, I'm extremely well prepared, so that has to help...