Monday, November 22, 2004
Update: I'm still alive.
I know it's been a while. I'm still here though. Had a good weekend. Played video games with the guys on Friday. Saturday Lindsay and I went out to dinner at The Brick House in Butler. The food was great and it was a sorely needed change from the dining hall.
Speaking of food: Thanks Aunt Les and George for the Giant Eagle gift certificate. I picked up some breakfast bars and string cheese and other snack stuff. It was great timing because I got it just as I was getting desperate for food.
If you haven't noticed that the pictures are gone from my blog: they are. I was playing with my server at home and goofed the whole thing up. I can fix it but probably not until christmas break. :( No pictures until then. On the up side, I'll be taking a class next semester where I'll be learning how do run a server better so I can probably make some improvements.
I'm in the process of looking for a new roommate. Jon won't be coming back to SRU next semester. He's going home to be with his girlfriend. A crap-tastic decision, but everyone and their mother has told him so and he doesn't seem to care. He left for home last week on Thursday night and isn't coming back until after Thanksgiving break. Now I've either got to find a new roommate who can live on the honors floor or be assigned a new one randomly. I don't really like either option but I don't have much of a choice.
I'm also looking further into grad school. I took another look at the CMU program and what it expects of applicants, and I don't think I cut the mustard. They are looking for students who have been part of a large research project - I don't have that opportunity here at SRU. Also they're looking for students to have published work..another opportunity I'm not afforded here at SRU. Plus they typically see better GPAs than mine and more prestigeous institutions. So, I'm still gonna apply to CMU but I'm also going to give myself some more alternatives. PSU is a good one, but I'm afraid that if I don't have a backup to that, I'll be stuck if I don't get accepted. So I'm checking out some other schools that offer graduate work in computer science.
I'm ready for Thanksgiving break. I need the time off. My schedule is starting to get to me. It'll be nice to just be for a few days and to get a chance to see everyone. See you soon.
Speaking of food: Thanks Aunt Les and George for the Giant Eagle gift certificate. I picked up some breakfast bars and string cheese and other snack stuff. It was great timing because I got it just as I was getting desperate for food.
If you haven't noticed that the pictures are gone from my blog: they are. I was playing with my server at home and goofed the whole thing up. I can fix it but probably not until christmas break. :( No pictures until then. On the up side, I'll be taking a class next semester where I'll be learning how do run a server better so I can probably make some improvements.
I'm in the process of looking for a new roommate. Jon won't be coming back to SRU next semester. He's going home to be with his girlfriend. A crap-tastic decision, but everyone and their mother has told him so and he doesn't seem to care. He left for home last week on Thursday night and isn't coming back until after Thanksgiving break. Now I've either got to find a new roommate who can live on the honors floor or be assigned a new one randomly. I don't really like either option but I don't have much of a choice.
I'm also looking further into grad school. I took another look at the CMU program and what it expects of applicants, and I don't think I cut the mustard. They are looking for students who have been part of a large research project - I don't have that opportunity here at SRU. Also they're looking for students to have published work..another opportunity I'm not afforded here at SRU. Plus they typically see better GPAs than mine and more prestigeous institutions. So, I'm still gonna apply to CMU but I'm also going to give myself some more alternatives. PSU is a good one, but I'm afraid that if I don't have a backup to that, I'll be stuck if I don't get accepted. So I'm checking out some other schools that offer graduate work in computer science.
I'm ready for Thanksgiving break. I need the time off. My schedule is starting to get to me. It'll be nice to just be for a few days and to get a chance to see everyone. See you soon.
Friday, November 12, 2004
Naomi Wolf Follow-up
Naomi Wolf was excellent. She is truly a great speaker and cares very much for others. I was a bit nervous attending because I consider myself a feminist, but find that I do not agree with all feminists. I believe in equality for women: socially, in the work place, in education, everywhere. Everyone is equal and should be treated thusly. However, sometimes someone claiming to be a feminist will cross the line and seek the superiority of the female gender. This isn't really feminism at all and I don't agree with it at all. I was afriad that Naomi Wolf would be one such feminist.
I was pleasantly surprised. She turned out to express none of the radical, across-the-line attitudes toward the male gender. She only wanted to help women to realize that they needed to step up and take what is theirs in a society where they won't get it any other way.
She also talked about many topics that did not apply specifically to females. Naomi spoke of cultural trends that are universal. One such trend was the middle class trend to feel that financial power is a bad thing. Naomi said that she struggled with this after her first book became an international best seller. She suddenly had financial power so many others wanted, and felt guilty and undeserving.
She shared that as she came to terms with having financial power, she realized that it was a neutral force, as is any kind of power. It could be used for good or bad. Naomi explained that once she began tithing her income to church or charity she realized that the more financial power she gained the more she could give away to those who really needed it, making her financial power a force for good.
Another trend Naomi Wolf spoke about was the idea that you had to work for somebody out of college. She encouraged everyone to "dream their biggest dream" and then make it happen on their own. She described ways to seek out investment money to fund your dream. Often times it was money that, sink or swim, you aren't liable to pay back.
Naomi spoke about the way she funded her dream, the woodhull institute for women leaders, and explained how this could be adapted to our own dreams. She observed that the trend in our society is for this kind of knowledge to be given to the upper class only. She related how foreign the idea of a group of people just looking for someone to give their money to sounded.
I was glad to have been a part of Naomi Wolf's visit to SRU. There was an article about it in today's rocket issue.
Oh, and thank goodness it's friday because this week has been a rough one. I think I'm atoning for the ease of last week. I've got a break now though, fortunately.
I was pleasantly surprised. She turned out to express none of the radical, across-the-line attitudes toward the male gender. She only wanted to help women to realize that they needed to step up and take what is theirs in a society where they won't get it any other way.
She also talked about many topics that did not apply specifically to females. Naomi spoke of cultural trends that are universal. One such trend was the middle class trend to feel that financial power is a bad thing. Naomi said that she struggled with this after her first book became an international best seller. She suddenly had financial power so many others wanted, and felt guilty and undeserving.
She shared that as she came to terms with having financial power, she realized that it was a neutral force, as is any kind of power. It could be used for good or bad. Naomi explained that once she began tithing her income to church or charity she realized that the more financial power she gained the more she could give away to those who really needed it, making her financial power a force for good.
Another trend Naomi Wolf spoke about was the idea that you had to work for somebody out of college. She encouraged everyone to "dream their biggest dream" and then make it happen on their own. She described ways to seek out investment money to fund your dream. Often times it was money that, sink or swim, you aren't liable to pay back.
Naomi spoke about the way she funded her dream, the woodhull institute for women leaders, and explained how this could be adapted to our own dreams. She observed that the trend in our society is for this kind of knowledge to be given to the upper class only. She related how foreign the idea of a group of people just looking for someone to give their money to sounded.
I was glad to have been a part of Naomi Wolf's visit to SRU. There was an article about it in today's rocket issue.
Oh, and thank goodness it's friday because this week has been a rough one. I think I'm atoning for the ease of last week. I've got a break now though, fortunately.
If you haven't guessed: It's cold!
Yeah, it's my least favorite time of year again. Slippery Rock has 2 seasons: rain and snow. It's just entered the latter. We saw our first flakes last weekend. Nothing on the ground yet. I'm wearing my new birthday warm clothing (Thanks everyone!). I've started wearing my new winter jacket everywhere. :( I wish we had fall until it was spring time.
Monday, November 08, 2004
Whoa
Man, have I let my blog go by the wayside. I haven't posted in almost a week. Sorry everyone. I was pretty busy last week but now I'm just kinda cruising along without too much work. This past weekend Blue Key had a camp out at SRU's ski lodge (which is a misnomer because there isn't really any skiing). It was a ton of fun. There are pictures on the Blue Key web page. I played a large role in organizing the activity and was pleased to see it was a great success. Lindsay even visited for a bit and got to meet all of the members in attendance.
Thursday I'll be representing the honors program along with some other students in a round table discussion with social critic and feminist Naomi Wolf. I'm going to have to get some more background on her soon so that I'm not unprepared. The honors program was having trouble finding people, so I figured I would volunteer. Lindsay is doing it too and encouraged me to participate.
Registration for Spring classes starts soon. That should be interesting. I'm finally going to get to take some upper level computer science classes. I can't wait.
It's really getting cold here. Luckily I have a new jacket (Thanks Dad and Judy) and a new hat and gloves (Thanks Mom, Nanna and Poppop)! There were flurries outside of the ski lodge at the Blue Key camp out.
I'll try to post more frequently, especially since I'll have time this week! Hope everyone is well. Nanna, glad to hear your surgery was a success, hope you recover quickly. George, I haven't heard about your health in a while but I hope you're doing well, too.
Thursday I'll be representing the honors program along with some other students in a round table discussion with social critic and feminist Naomi Wolf. I'm going to have to get some more background on her soon so that I'm not unprepared. The honors program was having trouble finding people, so I figured I would volunteer. Lindsay is doing it too and encouraged me to participate.
Registration for Spring classes starts soon. That should be interesting. I'm finally going to get to take some upper level computer science classes. I can't wait.
It's really getting cold here. Luckily I have a new jacket (Thanks Dad and Judy) and a new hat and gloves (Thanks Mom, Nanna and Poppop)! There were flurries outside of the ski lodge at the Blue Key camp out.
I'll try to post more frequently, especially since I'll have time this week! Hope everyone is well. Nanna, glad to hear your surgery was a success, hope you recover quickly. George, I haven't heard about your health in a while but I hope you're doing well, too.
Tuesday, November 02, 2004
Awesome Trip Home
My trip home was just plain awesome. I got to see all of the family and friends I've been missing. I also had a great birthday too. I got plenty of great gifts - thanks everyone - and ate plenty of great food. Friday I went out of eat with my Dad and Judy at Sasha's. Then Saturday I hung out in Duncannon until Saturday night when I went to the Leo's party where I had a ton of fun. We played poker and I did pretty well. It was winner take all and I was the last person to get taken out. Jen Leo won. Then Sunday I had a nice lunch with Nana, Poppop, Aunt Les and George. It was a great time. I was sad to leave.
