I'M NOT DEAD YET!

Crikey - I knew if I fell behind at all, it would pile up. I'm referring to both homework and blogging. Fortunately, it never became a problem with homework... I'll try to get back into the blogging routine with this summary of my life in recent times.

Thanksgiving break was really special with Michelle around and we had a great time. Not to say that we actually DID all that much (weather wasn't too pretty, nothing really to do, and too little time anyway), but it was still great! We actually worked with 4 other friends of mine here to make a tasty Thanksgiving meal - quite a fun event and I don't fear my own cooking as much as I used to.

Let me cover a few of the highlights from my Thanksgiving holiday:

A free small fridge (obtained while moving furniture for some locals)
Pasting a tree outside with a moldy pumpkin pie...
Breaking a few dorm rules with Michelle (shhhhh, nobody knows)
Watching movies with Michelle
NOT doing any homework
Vast amounts of food - huge free meals once or twice a day from various sources
Michelle
Pocky and Skittles

Of course, all the fun and enjoyment meant that since break ended, I've been heaps busy doing school-related homework. Lots of studying for tests, lots of homework, some group project stuff, writing papers, etc etc. It's been intense, but I'm hanging in there. I've got finals over the next 3 days and then I'll be OUTA here for a short Christmas break.

Outside of school... Rockclimbing has been great - I would like to pick up my own gear eventually, but for now cheap rentals are the norm. It is a great stress reliever! Ran in a 5k here and managed to come in 3rd place with a decent time (considering the weather and my lack of training).

The weather has been really cold - really really cold lately. I'm sick with a nasty sore throat and I'm hoping to banish it with some excessive sleep. I'm just glad I did extra homework earlier so I can afford to be sick and unproductive for a few days.

The BOXER run was great! It is an unofficial tradition here - basically lots of guys get together in their boxers and run around campus for a while. The highlight involves assembling in the ladies dorm courtyard and singing Christmas carols for a few minutes. That might sound crazy - considering it is VERY COLD at night here and actually it was crazy. But that's part of what made it so fun. The ladies took their "revenge" with a BIKINI run the next evening... This event was followed the next evening by the Midnight Breakfast which involved massive amounts of sugary breakfast food distributed (for free) to the masses of hungry college students. A good social event, but WAY TOO CROWDED.

Many other things have happened, but I'm too far behind to give them a full description. Good Amnesty International meetings, a goodbye/Christmas party for Jannette with crepes, a children's Christmas party, and so many more things.

And I miss Michelle!

I'm not dead yet... I feel happppyyyyyy!

Yes I do - Thanksgiving break is finally here (and actually is going by far too quickly). So here's some of the latest and greatest news:

I got a huge load of homework to finish and haven't done much yet. My engineering final project is to work in a group to design temporary housing for earthquake victims in Pakistan. That's awsome because it's actually relevant and practical - of course it will take a lot of time and research, but at least I can see the purpose.

Grades are all looking perky, but finances are less than stellar - fortunately I did pick up a few hours of work moving furniture, so I don't feel like a total bum. I also got a free fridge out of it!

The picture (see more here: Walla Walla Photos ) is from one of my long runs through Walla Walla. I often get up too late for church on the weekend and go running instead - in some ways I think it's actually better for me. Anyways, there are some truly beautiful spots around here!

Most interesting of all (to me at least), MICHELLE IS ON HER WAY :D She left yesterday afternoon and should be here in about... 5 hours, 16 minutes, and 23 seconds. Hehe um yeah. The next few days will be great!

Speaking of travel, I talked to SHARONA for many hours (3ish is the norm now I think) one evening recently. Talking about life in general, but also about travel plans for Australia this June/July. Can't wait for it! Shaz and I are contemplating some interesting travel plans...

And speaking of more travel, Bon, Katrina, and Kelly Schulz will are be visiting the U.S. soon! Dunno how much I'll get to see of them yet - but at least there's a chance!

I dedicate this post to Ben Anderson - my great Kiwi friend, former roomy, and fellow programmer... My reason? Well, Ben is probably the only person who will read this that will fully appreciate it and understand it ;)

Let me set the scene. This past Wednesday morning I went to my Assembly Programming class as usual. The lecturer (Curtis Nelson) informed all of us that he had finally nailed down our class project, told us what it was, recommended working in a group, and gave us the due date: Dec 9. Because the project was so unusual and likely to be very large, he jokingly mentioned that he would give double credit if it was done by the next day. Someone in class had a sense of humour and asked by what time tomorrow. Nelson was a bit startled by that question and quickly explained that he didn't intend or want anyone to finish by the next day - it would be unhealthy - and so... 6am.

Michael Roth and I were smiling and after class, decided we would give it a try. We didn't know each other very well, but we were both competent at least. Immediately after my last class of the day (2pm), we met in my room and began. We spent several hours planning, identifying potential tough problems, and developed are general architecture. From then on, it was a lot of careful thinking and a LOT of typing. After a marathon 12 solid hours (minus a half hour for dinner), we completed the 1700 line program - and even made it classy and stylish. We were both rather exhausted, but it was an exhilarating experience! We submitted the finished program over e-mail at 2am and submitted a hard copy (28 pages long) later that morning.

Nelson's brief 4 word reply e-mail:
"You animals! Good job." - ahhhh the satisfaction...

The whole thing reminded me so much of working on assignments with Ben - laughing at absurd ways to accomplish something, catching each other with a "wait, that won't work because of blah ... but what if we approached it like this...?", adding amusing comments for our own enjoyment... Yeah it was very familiar and I had the odd feeling that I was back working on some project with Ben.

For the one or two people who actually wonder what the assignment was, here's a semi-technical description: The goal was basically to make a de-compiler. The assembly program finds the copy of itself stored in program memory, reads each address, decodes the machine language and prints the corresponding assembly instruction to the SPIM console. The end result (more or less) is that you print out a copy of what you wrote...

And yes, I know I'm crazy.

Thursday night, one particular event stood out - a concert! A FREE concert! A GREAT free concert!

I found out about a free concert by two groups I'd never heard of last minute at tea with some friends. I caught Sarah online with instant messenger and convinced her to take a break from studying calculus long enough to go check out this concert... The venue was packed with several hundred college students - enthusiastic college students! The opening act was put on by an indie group who's lead singer happens to be Casey Luport (an American I met back at Avondale) - good music!

Then came the truly great stuff! The group An Dóchas (Gaelic for “The Hope”) played an amazing couple hours of beautiful high energy Irish music. They used a wide variety of instruments, vocals, and styles, but what really added to the experience was the dancers! They were an amazing group (Haran Irish Dancers) and the crowd REALLY got into the mood. In fact, the whole place felt like a pub some of the time with all the energy, clapping, and stomping! Really amazing performance - one of the best concerts I've ever witnessed! (and for all you folks back home, they are coming to Atlanta this December...)

I was an idiot for not bringing my camera... But what an experience! A perfect break from the routine of homework.

Go check 'em out here: An Dóchas - highly recommended folks! You can even download a few songs from their site to get a taste of what I'm talking about...

Yeah..... Well last weekend I went to the notorious BARN PARTY which was quite interesting. Mainly interesting due to the costuming. You are currently looking at the Q-Tip girls and as far as the guys. Well I don't know if they are babies or oldies. Either way, they had fun with it!

I joined forces with Pajama Man (Kent) and became his sidekick Lounge Boy - just chilling in my robe, snacking on popcorn, and watching all the costumes. The event was ok, but nothing amazing. Lots of people and rather shallow (in my opinion). At least there were a lot of creative costumes.

Anyways, what WAS cool (but doesn't making for intriguing pictures) was the Amnesty International meeting at Greg Dodd's house last Friday night. I think I've found another Daniel Reynaud (my semi-idol history lecturer from Avondale). We talked a lot about recent events around the world and the state of human rights in various countries - really enlightening!

In other recent events, had a lot of fun with Intro to Engineering class on Thursday. We got into small groups for some design competition... It was really the first hands on class we've had and it almost felt like playing :) Our small group actually beat all 6 of the others for our newspaper tower which was nice.

Also got the opportunity to attend an engineering colloquium about steam catapults for launching jet fighters from aircraft carriers - and dealing with the problem of stopping the huge force used to accelerate the plans... Good stuff!

No luck finding my mobile phone, but I DID buy a "real" phone for my dorm room so I can now receive calls... Now it's Friday night again and I'm ready to relax for a while. I don't have to worry about Chemistry, Calculus, Engineering, Assembly Programming, or anything else for at least one day! Enjoy the weekend everyone!

The Dark Sucker Theory:

For years, it has been believed that electric bulbs emit light, but recent information has proved otherwise. Electric bulbs don't emit light; they suck dark. Thus, we call these bulbs Dark Suckers. The Dark Sucker Theory and the existence of dark suckers prove that dark has mass and is heavier than light.

First, the basis of the Dark Sucker Theory is that electric bulbs suck dark. For example, take the Dark Sucker in the room you are in. There is much less dark right next to it than there is elsewhere. The larger the Dark Sucker, the greater its capacity to suck dark. Dark Suckers in the parking lot have a much greater capacity to suck dark than the ones in this room.

So with all things, Dark Suckers don't last forever. Once they are full of dark, they can no longer suck. This is proven by the dark spot on a full Dark Sucker.

A candle is a primitive Dark Sucker. A new candle has a white wick. You can see that after the first use, the wick turns black, representing all the dark that has been sucked into it. If you put a pencil next to the wick of an operating candle, it will turn black. This is because it got in the way of the dark flowing into the candle. One of the disadvantages of these primitive Dark Suckers is their limited range.

There are also portable Dark Suckers. In these, the bulbs can't handle all the dark by themselves and must be aided by a Dark Storage Unit. When the Dark Storage Unit is full, it must be either emptied or replaced before the portable Dark Sucker can operate again.

Dark has mass. When dark goes into a Dark Sucker, friction from the mass generates heat. Thus, it is not wise to touch an operating Dark Sucker. Candles present a special problem as the mass must travel into a solid wick instead of through clear glass. This generates a great amount of heat and therefore it's not wise to touch an operating candle.

Also, dark is heavier than light. If you were to swim just below the surface of the lake, you would see a lot of light. If you were to slowly swim deeper and deeper, you would notice it getting darker and darker. When you get really deep, you would be in total darkness. This is because the heavier dark sinks to the bottom of the lake and the lighter light floats at the top. The is why it is called light.

Finally, we must prove that dark is faster than light. If you were to stand in a lit room in front of a closed, dark closet, and slowly opened the closet door, you would see the light slowly enter the closet. But since dark is so fast, you would not be able to see the dark leave the closet.

Next time you see an electric bulb, remember that it is a Dark Sucker.

This theory (from what I can tell) came from H. J. Robinson back in 1996... Somehow it just seems to fit with my blog theme.