The official Egg Drop contest took place today and more than 30 groups of college students, high schoolers, and elementry kids launched their egg-protecting contraption from the roof of one of the campus buildings (about 35 feet high) - aiming at the frying pan on the sidewalk. I feel like an idiot because I forgot to put my battery in my camera. So no pictures of the actual contest :(

The highlight had to be when the president of the college (one of the judges for the event) was almost assassinated by a soccer-shaped design which students hurled a few inches from his head. It was not intentional ... at least I think that's true...

Jose and I submitted our project: The CushionMaster 6000 which performed marvelously (although we won no prizes). Last night we spent hours testing our design and many eggs were sacrificed to reach the final product... It's a bit hard to describe, but basically we managed to stuff the egg inside an empty balloon and then cushioned it (inside a cardboard box) with other balloons. The design was relatively lightweight, used few parts, could survive a fall from any height, and (most importantly) was fun to make. Next year I'm setting my goal on a guided descent which will take a lot more work and creativity.

Tonight is the Engineering Banquet where I will be listening to Bob Colwell - the designer (or possibly project manager?) for the first Pentium chip. I don't know what to expect really, but it should be interesting.

I'm still attempting to sort out my Australia plans. Plane tickets are expensive and I can't really figure a way around that. Oh well - now I just have to minimize cost and figure out when I actually am going :)

Next week could be lethal - 3 scary tests coming up, but if I study hard over the weekend (yeah right) then I should be ok. Miss you all!

For random stuff to check out, take a look at these: Guns - Episode 81 (Public Radio International) and Hieronymus Bosch's "Garden of Earthly Delights"

Well it is Valentine's Day officially - a day for red and pink, hugs and kisses, romance and friendship, and chocolate. I can't say it's my favourite holiday by any means, but unlike some, I don't hate it either.

Regardless, it does give me an excuse to mention that I LOVE my beautiful girlfriend, Michelle!! (guess who the package above was sent to...)

In addition, I love a vast crowd of people including:

*ok nevermind - I started writing the list and it was too long even for a lengthy blog post. In groups: friends from back home, friends from back home in Australia, family, relatives, friends here at WWC, and my friends scattered elsewhere (Thailand, Olympia, California, Lincoln, etc etc). You know who you are :)

In other news, homework continues to rain down upon me but not nearly as badly as last week. The quarter is almost done which is really hard to believe. I'm just starting to settle into my classes...

Crap. I just need more profound or exciting things to write about!

Ooooh here's one. There is a possibility of me going backpacking in British Columbia with some friends for spring break! Woot!

This is a beautiful photo I came across while scanning through Deviant Art the other day. You can see more Roie Galitz photographs here.

The last couple weeks have been ... challenging to say the least. My blog has suffered from my semi-zealous studying of calculus, chemistry, and engineering but I am still alive and well! Big thanks to the Michelle for keeping me sane - I love you!

Amid all the study, I've managed to make good use of my rockclimbing equipment and visit the Walla Walla gym twice a week for several hours. It's particularly important during the intense study days - a great way to relieve stress. It's just about impossible to think about inverse hyperbolic trig identities (or their derivatives/integrals) when you are on the verge of slipping off a small foothold fifteen feet up in the air... :) Big thanks to mum and dad for the nice 5-10 shoes and to my sis for the chalk - both often make the difference between success and failure on some of the climbs!

As you can see, the wall is not particularly tall or big, but it has enough routes to keep me busy and challenged. And it's free. FREE! I often go with Mitch - a new friend of mine - and we make a good climb/belay team. In fact last night after climbing, I went over to his house for the first time and we celebrated with a friend by eating multiple bowls of icecream.

School has been good, all things considered, and I just pre-registered for next quarter's classes - an intense 18 credit quarter with Calculus 3, Discrete Maths, Chemistry, Engineering, and Data Structures.

In other recent good news, my awsome mate Kristin showed up for Superbowl weekend to celebrate her birthday - HAPPY BIRTHDAY! - and I enjoyed the few hours I spent with her and her brother Mike. We talked about many good things and even squeezed in "Run Lola Run" (sorry Mike) which is a great film. She left far too early, but I'll just be happy for the time I get. Especially considering that most of my Aussie mates are not even in my hemisphere!

There is a lot of interesting STUFF I should be writing about, but I think I'll save that for my next post.