09.27.08
Posted in school at 10:45 am by Anthony
Classes for the fall quarter started off with a bang on Wednesday. The first batter in the order? Organic chemistry. Now, jumping into organic chemistry cold feels a bit like being dumped in the deep end of the pool and you weren’t that strong of a swimmer to start with, except I was pretty competent at chemistry back in the day. That’s what happens when you don’t exercise that part of your brain for awhile, I think. I’m pretty sure, however, that if I flounder around a bit–um, I mean, work hard, with tenacity and determination–I’ll get my sea legs.
Let me explain. During the first 30 minutes or so as the prof talked about acids and bases, a vague sense of panic crept in, replete with an overage of self-doubt and fears that I may have to go back and retake a year of chemistry. The experience was what I suspect being lost in France and only barely remembering bits and pieces from the 12 years of French you took in grade school and high school feels like.
The rational decision may be to go back and take general chemistry, but I’m stubborn. Well. I’m going to go off and do some problems from the textbook, and depending on how the first quiz goes, I’ll make a decision then.
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09.18.08
Posted in Random at 9:39 pm by Anthony
1. Jersey has ridiculously cheap gas.
2. 2 Gold St. apparently has all the hotties.
3. The price of steak frites at Les Halles has gone up $3.
4. I prefer not to spend in the double digits for breakfast.
5. A good time to line up for standby Colbert tickets is 2-3 PM.
6. The NBC studio tour, even with my GE employee discount, isn’t really worth the admission.
7. The price of the recession special at Gray’s Papaya is up to $3.50.
8. The price of a round at McSorley’s is $4.50. (And Tommy retired–but my old Russian barber is still cutting hair.)
9. Paul’s still makes a tasty burger.
10. College students seem to have gotten younger.
11. All of one’s problems can be solved by converting to Judaism.
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09.09.08
Posted in Musings at 10:17 pm by Anthony
It’s turning out to be a reunion-y kind of year: my 10-year high school reunion; a housewarming with long-lost grade school friends; a message received out of the blue from a one-time close friend-turned-faded memories; a house party that could have doubled as yet another high school alumni reunion; and an upcoming trip to see college friends and reconnect with the city that still holds prisoner my heart and my imagination. I’ve tripped down memory lane too many times to count.
The lesson I’m learning, it seems, is that no matter how much time passes, for better or for worse, some memories are still as potent as they were when first formed. And goodbyes never get any easier.
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09.07.08
Posted in September 11 at 8:27 pm by Anthony
Flipping through the TV programming guide tonight, I saw the familiar 9/11 documentaries and movies popping up in the listings, reminding me that, on Thursday, it will have been seven years since that day. I have little in the way of comment except to say that, as always, remember to treasure your loved ones every day.
I located an email I sent to friends and family the day after, having been reminded of its existence because of the proximity of September 11, and also from having had the chance this weekend to see an old friend whom I hadn’t seen in nearly four years. Its text follows below.
Read the rest of this entry »
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09.04.08
Posted in Random at 10:16 pm by Anthony
Me: p.s. the Palin kids have some awesome names.
A: oh god yes
A: but she shoudl’ve picked a theme and stuck with it
A: like: trig, alg, calc, geom, arith
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09.03.08
Posted in site news at 5:31 pm by the mgmt.
The site has been upgraded to WordPress 2.6.1. Not that it really changes the end experience… but it does let me finally use the Wordpress iPhone app…
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09.02.08
Posted in job, school at 6:40 pm by Anthony
It’s kind of weird, after having gotten used to the weekly trips to Evanston, to have only office work on my schedule for the week. It was pretty good timing, however–no sooner had I finished class for the summer that I had to pull team lead duties in place of a co-worker who went on vacation for two weeks in sunny Cancun. The days were long, but we finally, finally, FINALLY, hit our limited production milestone for the new product we’ve been working on for…oh, at least the last two years. And I got to leave a more tangible mark on the product than I had previously, as my signature was required (as a member of the core program team) for the signoffs. I’d post them but I think those documents are company confidential. ;)
You’d think that I’d have some room to breathe after that, but I then was pulled in for the next week to support what can only be described as a very important activity that would have far-reaching impact on the business if it went badly. We survived, mostly in one piece ;) but the stress levels remained high. Thankfully, Labor Day weekend was well-timed, and I got to relax a bit…except for the hours in which I tried to catch up on being MONTHS BEHIND on housecleaning. At least I got to vacuum the carpet and clean the toilet…
The upshot of all that is that I really, really want to take some vacation before the fall quarter of school starts. The only problem is that I don’t know where to go that doesn’t cost money (which, at this point, I’m reluctant to part with any). I just want to chill somewhere that isn’t here or Chicago. I suppose I could do a road trip to NYC. After all, I’m due. I’ll just have to suck up the cost of gas, I guess.
Speaking of school, I finally registered for fall classes: Genetics and Evolutionary Biology, and Organic Chemistry. Two classes, three times a week. My schedule is going to be ridiculously full and I anticipate running out of steam fast… all the more reason to try to squeeze in some vacation before embarking on this masochistic activity of mine. Just gotta tell myself that it’s all worth it and remind myself that I have a lot of family and friends supporting me.
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