Finals Week

So what have I been doing for the last week?

~350 abstract algebra problems I put off until the end of the semester. I am never doing that again. I wanted to die over the last week. But now it's turned in and finished! The only things standing between me and home are four days, two papers, and a problem set. I've decided to go skiing the morning before my flight, so I'm going to wake up at 8, hit the slopes hopefully before nine, ski til noon, come back, shower, eat, grab my stuff, and go to the airport. A fitting end to my semester here.

Tahoe still has very little snow, but places are open/opening soon, which is good. This has been a weird and disappointing winter.

As always, a bit about the Warriors. They suck. Biggest team of losers ever. If they lose to the OKC Thunder tonight I will hate them for the rest of the season until they either get a legit pg or a (fundamentally) legit big man. Seriously. As a side note, I can't wait to play ball at Cancer. Anyway, I think Jamal Crawford was definitely a good add for the team, even though he's a lot like Stephen Jackson and Corey Magette. He's better than both in my opinion, though I like how Jackson has been sharing the ball more. Hopefully we can drop Magette like first period gym by next year. They need to play Brandon Wright and Anthony Randolph a lot more though, both because they have the raw talent to make our team better in the coming years and we need bigger, taller guys getting rebounds. Depressing.

In other news, I've picked (sort of) a direction for my senior thesis! It'll probably be something in Topological Graph Theogy, either a nice overview of the field so far or a nice explination of a big theorem, perhaps the Heawood Theorem. Definitely accessible material if you guys want to read about it. I'm very excited for senior year. I will be only taking 3 classes, looking for jobs, writing a hopefully interesting thesis, studying probability (which I hope is easier than complex analysis), and getting my own thesis carrel, which is ridiculously exciting. Pretty nuts to think that the next semester I'm on campus I'll be a senior - freaky.

Lastly, for those from Fremont, I heard there's a pho place that has filet mignon pho called Pho Appetit in Newark or somewhere. Anyone interested in going? I've only been home for five days this year so far, so I plan on gorging on various good foods while I'm home.

Vocoder

I really want one. A vocoder. That would be super sick.

It's finally the final stretch. Finally. I've been in final stretch mentality for like two months, but it's finally here. All I have left standing between me and relaxation is 12 days, about 200 algebra problems, an algebra midterm, two papers, an optional final, and packing. I'm so close! That's a lot to do in 12 days though. I'm at the library and I just decided to close my eyes for a second, and I saw the plane circling over Berkeley before it landed at SFO. What a beautiful sight.

The Warriors suck. Losing to the Wizards and the Knicks on one road trip? We are seriously the worst team in the NBA. So depressing.

So Tahoe (and Middlebury actually) still doesn't have any snow! This really can't be right. I was going to spend six of my twenty-three days at home at Tahoe, so this is really appalling news. Pray for snow! Like six feet by the time I get home! See all you at home soon!

Chocolate Rain

Apparently I'm about a year behind on this, but for you who haven't seen this, Chocolate Rain. Ridiculous.

I finished a killer Complex problem set/take-home midterm today. It was so troublesome, and when I talked to my mom about it (the nth time in the last week), she told me she was worried about my mathematical capabilities. Depressing.

Quick mid-november update!

I haven't written much because not much is going on. I'm in my TV and American Culture screening watching Max Headroom. It's the weirdest show I've ever seen. We also watched Sesame Street, Pokemon, and The Simpsons. There have been a couple things that have all together made my life. Fantasy Basketball, for one, is in full swing. I have one super-dominate team in my ESPN league - Chris Bosh, Chris Paul, Baron Davis, and Danny Granger, plus a bunch of super legit role players. I'm dominating my league straight up. My other league, against MinFei, Michael Lee, Jon Huang, and a couple friends from Midd, is significantly more competitve. I wish Kobe got more minutes.

The GS Warriors are doing well too - Anthony Morrow is Chocolate Rain (Fear The Beard). 37 is the highest debut ever by a rookie apparently, and he was freaking undrafted. Nuts! CJ Watson too! The Quiet Storm - domination. I'm quite glad we beat the Portland Trailblazers.

My IM team is doing well too. 3v3 Co-ed ball. We are 3-1, and the one loss was to the Girls Varsity Soccer Team and three guys that were cut from the Varsity Bball team. Not really fair - we lost 11-1, even though we won the last game 11-2 against the old girls varsity center.

It's finally been snowing too; the last two days it's been snowing probably 80% of the time, though the rest of the time the sun was out, so a fair amount melted. Sugarbush, Jay peak, and a couple other places have opening weekend this weekend; if I didn't have a takehome Complex Analysis midterm, I would probably be there. I got my new ski bindings mounted on my new skis and am hopefully going to see the new Warren Miller film on Saturday. Ski season is coming!

Anyway, that's a quick update on my life. I'll try to write more things that are interesting.

Grizzlies =(

So the Warriors lost to the Grizzlies, I semi-bombed a midterm more out of stupidity than unpreparedness, and now I have to watch The King and I, which is hella racist. HELLA racist. What a good night.

Warriors 1

What a depressing season opener for the GS Warriors =(

Stephen Jackson...failed inbound when they were down 1 with 28.7 seconds left in the fourth quarter. What a crappy end to a good game.

Complex Analysis

So it's 1:05 AM, and I still feel numb and cold from my Complex Analysis midterm examination. Today was a day of many firsts. First time it snowed this Fall/Winter, first time I've ever been the last person in a class taking an exam, first time I've ever gone over the time limit, etc. Complex Analysis owns me. If you are curious, here is an introduction: Complex Analysis at Wikipedia.

Enough about that (and schoolwork in general). I love guitaring and my guitar and other nice guitars. I'm learning how to play Satin Doll (it's famous?), and it feels really great to be challenged and to learn new stuff on the guitar. Very exciting. In other news, I've narrowed my prospective job possibilities: TFA math teacher, hopefully near home; lawyer, currently considering immigration law; or, if there are any jobs left, marketing and strategy consulting. I feel really behind on the last one due to my lack of economics and business background, but my dad keeps on telling me not to worry cause I'm such an attractive job candidate. Man I wish I could believe that.

I guess not much has been going on besides that and schoolwork. Man my life here is boring haha. That's what midterms do to you right. As a sidenote, for anyone at home who reads this, I just found out our favorite Ninja Turtle, Al Harrington, now has his own brand of shoes in the vein of Starburys. I really want to get a pair now, and they are those "inexpensive to support the kids" shoes, which I really respect (not like Shaq who doesn't even wear his shoes). Plus, finally sweet cheap shoes in Warriors colors. Holler at me if you want to go to a game over Winter break. Also, I'm considering skipping two days of class before Thanksgiving to go down to Philly early to see the Warriors play the Sixers on that Sunday. Too ridiculous?

The face of Protege Footwear

Update!

I haven't updated in a while...sorry guys. Midd is busy and when it's not, all I want to do is sleep. And last week, watch a lot of the Lord of the Rings trilogy movies (since I don't really read and all. Anyway, this post will be an answer to both of the following questions: How are you Angelo? and What have you been up to?

I am good; we are in the process of finishing up our Fall Break, which unfortunately for me was quite unproductive. This last week I slept a lot more (averaged 8 hours a night!), watched some movies, led worship and spoke at large group (the source), and didn't fail a math midterm. The weekend before that was Fall Family weekend, so I got to see some wonderful parents. For you Middlebury readers, I met Brent's and Chris Opila's wonderful parents. We had several good meals and stuff. It was fun.

Golf is still on my horizon. That's a picture from the 14th green on our course. I played two games in the last four days, lost a total of 15 balls (today's game was pretty terrible and the back nine on our course is bounded by a thick deciduous forest), and broke a total of one pitching wedge. All in all, not too bad. I'm excited to be really wealthy one day and pick up golf for real, keeping score and everything. Not quite there yet though, unfortunately. I've also developed an unhealthy obsession with 30 Rock, in my opinion one of the best shows on television right now. Alec Baldwin's character is in many ways my hero (but not all ways - he's also crazy). I leave episodes on as background noise while I do homework and everything. Terrible. If you haven't seen the show, you should check it out cause it's hilarious.

I've also been playing a lot of guitar, particularly over break. I'm finally taking lessons again, after a five year hiatus, now with Paul Asbell (www.paulasbell.com). Apparently he's quite the guitar hotshot. I can now play "This Land is Your Land" in five keys, "Hey Jude" by the Beatles, and some song called ... something about the wind. And a bunch of scales and scale exercises. It's a ball! I'm also picking up some swing and blues and jazz chords. Super exciting.

Lastly, I've begun worrying about the future and job prospects. With the economy how it is, how the heck am I going to get a job? And what kind of job? My dream of being a part-time food critic and full time-golfer is probably no longer feasible. Time to start worrying...

Week 2 - moderate success

Blogging is hard to keep up with such a busy life - Midd is beginning to kick me in the face already. But life is good.

My birthday was last Monday. I wasn't really planning on doing much of anything besides my Complex Analysis homework set, but Kelly Bennion and J. Brent Allen (the new hot couple, hot as in fashionable and not sexy) planned a surprise dinner for me which ended up being at Mr. Ups. Sunday night, however, Alethea Gross ruined the surprise by mentioning to me that Kelly had emailed a bunch of people for dinner for Monday, which at the time I forgot was my birthday. It was fun; I had a Cajun-spice rubbed steak and some sweet appetizers. Kelly also baked a fun-fetti cake, dyed her own frosting, and drew California on the cake with it. I think it said something like "Have a HELLA good Birthday!" It was pretty tasty and also pretty thoughtful. Hopefully pictures are forthcoming, but Kelly took them all so I don't have them.

Some of you guys didn't know what softsoap was. It's a nice-smelling brand of hand soap. The one I'm using looks like this:
Life at Midd is picking up nicely/quickly. I got my phone back; it has the same number as before, so you don't have to worry about entering it again on your phones. It is a little too smart for me. I got a BlackBerry Curve with the data plan, so now all my email also forwards to my phone and I can browse the web on it too. Pretty crazy. Also, I got a text plan, so you can text me (but don't go crazy, I've got a 200 text limit).

IVCF has picked up again too. Lots of cool new freshmen have been around at Bible Studies, the Source, and Prayz. Lots of pranking possibilities. We had our Freshmen retreat last weekend, which was a lot of fun. It involved a photo scavenger hunt, capture the flag that the upperclassmen lost terribly to the freshmen in, and general ensuing hilarity. Good deal.

Holler at me guys! I'm glad you can keep up with things happening!

Catch-Up

Although I'm not sure exactly how many people read this, I do feel bad for neglecting my blog for almost two weeks. Life has definitely picked up at Midd, so I'll note a couple things.

1. I think I'm picking up golf. With golf buddies no less. They/we have been in a recent rush to buy clubs, which are hella expensive. I'm heading to the driving range in several hours to work on my stroke (which is terrible). I don't even know if that's the right word for hitting a golf ball with a golf club. Pictures will hopefully be forthcoming.

2. If you didn't know already, my phone is broken in half. A new one is also forthcoming. And it will have an unlimited texting plan, so if I feel too lazy to talk, but not too lazy to move my thumbs, I will still be available for communication.

3. School is really hard this semester. I'm taking Complex Analysis with a professor who got his Ph.D from Princeton and is a certified genius of geniuses (geneii?). During his class, I learn a lot about the truth of the universe, but by the end, my head feels like an explosion. I'm also taking Abstract Algebra, TV and American Culture, and the United States and the Pacific - all in all, a pretty work heavy schedule. On top of that, I'm still working 8 hours a week in Admissions, tutoring, and grading/TAing for a class. Busy busy!

4. I fell down stairs yesterday morning. It was painful.

5. I like SoftSoap because it smells hella good.

I'll try to keep this updated more often. Tell all my friends!!!

Thing's I've done this last week

So I failed at really staying updated. Last Tuesday, H. Kay Merriman and I had a ball at Bristol Falls. If you aren't familiar with H. Kay, she looks like this:
And Bristol Falls looks like this:Those rocks on the side are a lot taller than they look. Jumping off them was a ton of fun, but to save myself from the embarrassment of a large stomach, I will keep those pictures to myself. Aside from hurling ourselves off of those rocks, though, we also had a nice chat. It's scary to think that Junior year will pass so quickly, and next up is senior year in all of its job application glory. Freaky. I'm gonna go play some golf now. Holler at me.

Summer Work

So most of you guys don't know what doing this summer in any specific detail, so I figured that's a moderately interesting thing to explain. I'm doing math research, specifically in the area of Graph Pebbling, which is a sub-field of Graph Theory.

My current goal is to prove that the graphs produced by a certain construction are Class 0, or that the pebbling number of the graph (see the wikipedia link) is equal to the number of vertices of the graph. Here is one graph produced by said construction:
Anyway, that's a taste of what my summer is like.

My Blog

Although I don't like switching blogs or making new ones, I cannot access wordpress.com from China, and have thus switched to blogger. Also, with so many people abroad having blogs, I wanted to join in the club. Unfortunately, however, I am still at Midd, as you can see from my title, so hopefully this can serve as a venue for all those abroad to keep up with things on campus, and my friends at home to see what my life at Midd is like. I'll really try to update this pretty regularly, and not only when I don't have homework. Real writing this time.

Hope all of you who are not around are having blasts wherever you are.