Yay Break!

It's been a while since I posted, I realize, but I'm not gonna apologize because in the past two weeks, I have had essays, projects, and tests in all six of my classes and some other unrelated stuff thrown on top. Academics comes first, always, and, although I love you guys, blogging is not a top priority.

So right now, it's Spring Beak and beautiful here. The rain clouds are staying nicely on the horizon and the temperature has stayed between 70 and 80 degrees in the past few weeks. I am still at school, jamming through applications of all sorts and trying to teach myself MATLAB, a program for matrix and statistical analysis.The dorm is a ghost town, but it's nice to have the room to myself for a little bit.

Going roughly backwards to catch up -
This past weekend was Super Pi Day (3-14-15, especially at 9:26:53) and the Tucson Festival of Books. Once again, the entire Mall was devoured by four-legged white tents, people over the age of 50, and under the age of 10. I did raid the used book tent and got me some new reading material. I also got to see Dave Barry (who is hilarious without even trying) and a few panels of sci-fi/fantasy authors. One of those panels included the current president  of the Vatican Observatory, Br. Guy Consolmagno, who was a great speaker on separating fact from fiction. I also got more than my share of delicious fry bread, which I've only seen in Arizona.

Last Thursday, a guy from Raytheon came by and did a demo on how the technology from the quick-changing front ends of race cars could be applied to quickly changing the front end payload on MALDs, which was very cool.

Last Tuesday, the U of A held a "Last Comic Standing" style stand-up competition, which was worth going to. For the vast majority of comics. it was painfully clear that stand-up was not their forts (most were pulled from on campus improv teams), but it was funny nonetheless.

I hosted two girls two weekends ago for Suite with SWE. That was pretty fun, though I think I freaked them out a little when I took them to my Thermodynamics class.

Two Saturdays ago, I got to see the dance program perform their spring show. They were amazing, as usual, and did some very unusual exceptional things with their bodies and with the stage.

Other than that - eat, sleep, study, Rube. Pretty basic, kinda boring, and a little stressful.

For those of you who happen to be in the Phoenix area, we're bringing our Rube Goldberg machine to the Arizona Science Center on Saturday March 28th, and everyone is stoked to be there. We're also going to take it to Vegas near the end of the school
 year for the Las Vegas Science and Technology Festival. So everyone is even more stoked for that.

I think that just about catches me up.

Song of the week - since it is St. Patrick's Day as I'm writing this, the song of the week is "Oscail an Doras" from Riverdance. (Open the doors)

Crazy

It's about to get really crazy starting in about an hour after I start this post, so, in light of my negligence over the past few weeks, I'm posting early. Yay.

Nothing much really happened last week - I've just been busy with homework and school stuff.

But! In about an hour after this, I will have two back to back tests, one on basic linear differential equations, and one on basic circuit elements.
If that's not enough fun, Raytheon, a semi-local missile company, is hosting a series of lectures. The last one was on missile components, but this one is on aeronautics and I really want to go. The only problem is that it's all the way across campus and fifteen minutes after my second test.
Then, pretty soon after that, I have a Rube Goldberg meeting where some big announcements are going to be made. (That's going really well - we finally fixed our blender and our toaster).
Then homework.
That's Thursday.

Tomorrow, I'm going to wake up early and do yoga. Then I've got class most of the day. Later, I've got a meeting for volunteers at the College of Optical Sciences Laser Fun Day, where I volunteered to help at an exhibit on health applications of lasers, specifically, on astigmatism. I should do all my homework that day. I'm also going to try to go to the fish fry at the Newman Center.

On Saturday, I'm going to pop in early to Rube, take a coupla pictures, and bust my butt over to the Optical Sciences building to the Laser Fun Day. I'll try out the laser maze and do my thing for most of the day. Then I've got to chill, clean my room, and be productive. Later, I'm going to see "The Color Wheel," a production by the UA Dance program, which I will subsequently have to write an essay on.

Finally - Sunday - I'm going to get up earlierish to go to church. Then, I volunteered (I just can't say no) to helping out with Suite with SWE again for most of the day. So I get to lead high school girls around campus and letting one sleep in my dorm room for the night. The next morning, I'm taking a couple with me to my Thermodynamics lecture to see if it scares them off.

So yes, hectic weekend, thus the earliness. I'm doing okay, getting through it all, eating better than nightly ramen, exercising every once in a while. Thanks for all the birthday wished, I had a good one.

Song of the week - "Everything is Awesome" from the Lego Movie by Tegan Sarah and just cuz I missed the Oscars. You're welcome. Good luck getting it out of your head.

Catching my Breath

It's been a bittersweet sort of past two weeks.

Richard Ruiz, who was one of my professors my freshman year, just died. He taught my Honors colloquium on crosswords and was a really extremely nice guy. He was extremely passionate about linguistics and would always joke that we never really did any work in his class - and I'll admit that his class was a lot of fun. He would still say hi to me when I passed him in the hall. He will be missed.

The tests have started - but without their usual vengeance. I have a collection of extremely lazy/nice professors who have a tendency to assign problems straight from the book - and then declare the test open book. I'm not complaining at all. It's was a rather pleasant surprise. But unfortunately, not all of them think like that.

My birthday was pretty fun - I went to see Big Hero Six (finally) and we got a perfect run on the machine.

Reason for last week's post - I'm searching for a summer internship and I don't feel like I'm doing anything right, even though I've got my resume checked too many times, my elevator speech is polished (until it has to be used), and I've done my research, sometimes to the detriment of other things. Any tips, companies I should apply to, or anything else would be much appreciated.

Songs of the 2 weeks:

Boston -  Peace of Mind

Third Eye Blind - Semi-charmed Life

Unsendable Cover Letter

Dear Sir, Madame, or otherwise inclined,

I am somewhere between a sophomore and a senior at the University of Arizona studying a major with too many syllables, minoring in Spanish. I found out about this position through suggestions of slightly connected family members and/or judicious Googling, and I would like you to PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE HIRE ME for this job.

Since I Googled your company, I have found that it aligns with my interests in making money and staying busy. I have experience in making money from previous jobs, and in staying busy from schoolwork and avoiding chores at home. I could fill this space with unrelenting butt-kissing, but I think you probably get enough of that already. However, I promise you I have researched your company thoroughly and that I would fit in absolutely perfectly - no doubt about it. Your company culture aligns exactly with my values. When hired, I will do whatever you want me to (within reason, of course) because I am always a team player.

I am analytical, detail-oriented, and action-forward. I am also damned smart, funny, and good-looking. Considering that you are probably an engineering company, I have one of the attributes you constantly fail to find in first time job candidates - namely, I am FEMALE. I know the glass ceiling is cracking, but I can give your company the appearance of its disappearance. That being said, I can handle a paddle bit better than most guys, so nobody better mess with me - at least not too much. However, my extensive pop culture knowledge and constant smart-assery will help me fit in with any team of shy nerdy males. I can handle working alone or working in groups, and I even won some really cool award for teamwork once. I can bring diversity to your (probably) pretty homogeneous group.

In conclusion, PLEASE HIRE ME! I'm a nice person. I'm really hoping you call or email me first, but I will call you as soon as I work up the guts. I am looking forward to talking to you soon. Thank you for your kind, benevolent, amazing, unbelievable amount of consideration.

Sincerely,
Regards, with all due respect,
Best,

P.S. I make killer chocolate chip cookies ☺. PLEASE HIRE ME!

Automation

Just so you all can rest easy - the classic, sci-fi robot revolution will not happen until robots can autonomously build themselves - and know why they should build themselves. Why? Because without knowing how to replicate, they will break down after a usually known time, and, unless they are extraordinarily well built and maintained, that time is usually within a human lifetime. Even with advancing AIs such as Siri, Google's self-driving cars, or even Watson, the computers that drive today's machines still, for the most part, basically follow the (somewhat annoying) first rule of computer programming - the machine will only do what you tell it to. Without the ability to understand and synthesize why something happens, computers lack the ability to solve problems outside of their (often carefully curated) experience. Without that ability, a landlocked robot will not be able to function near an ocean; a cellphone can't deal with a fire; a machining tool can't do more than drill.

So sleep easy, all, knowing that the robot revolution will not happen yet - unless we create a learning, creating, self-aware AI, which, at that point, is basically human anyway.

Yes, we're talking about that in one of my classes. And damn, if it isn't right up my alley.

So I went speed dating for the first time this week. No, I'm not looking for anything serious, but it seemed like it would make for an entertaining evening. (What did they call it? Analog Tinder :P) I met some interesting guys, but none really caught my eye. The vast majority of the people there had never done anything like it before, and so the conversations tended to be a little awkward. In almost every case, there seemed to be this strange pause where both of us tried to decide who would take the lead in the conversation. Some of my friends were there, and it was almost a relief when they came to my table because I could breathe for a moment. I'm glad I went - it's not a bad story.

What else? The construction of the Rube Goldberg machine is D-O-N-E done and we are now working on troubleshooting and making it showable. The frame has been stained, the walls have been painted, and the toast has been loaded.

And finally, I survived round 1 of Resident Assistant interviews. Looking forward to round 2.

Last but not least - song of the week is Styx's "Mr. Roboto." See above. 

Systems

A closed system is a system where mass cannot enter or leave the system. The only changes in internal energy come from heat transfer (radiation, convection, or conduction) or from work being done on it.

Sometimes college seems like a closed system - you see the same people day in and day out, new things come in in the the forms of information transfer (social media, news, television) and work by outside agencies. In reality, it's more like a fixed volume (open) system - there are people, ideas, mass, matter flowing in and out all the time in the same area, constantly changing the energy present here.

Also, entropy is always pretty evident.

If you can't tell, I'm enjoying my thermodynamics class. *bows, walks off stage*

But wait, there's more!!!

I finished my seasonal job at the Bookstore because now pretty much everyone has the textbooks they need. The pay was decent, but, while the minutes were good, the hours were awful. It was pretty fun while it lasted. I met some interesting people and got to venture into the mysterious realm of bookstore backstock.

It's raining. The street behind my dorm is a river. Sigh.

I got a tour of the Poetry Center with my Humanities class. As part of the tour, we did a writing activity. Mine is in the post below, slightly edited. That was fun and interesting. Apparently we have one of the largest modern poetry centers in the nation, which is pretty cool.

I've picked up yoga. I am not flexible. Namaste with it and get flexible. It really helps me get up in the mornings.

I interviewed for a position as an RA next year. I think it went okay, but I didn't do as good a job as I could have connecting my stories to the job. One moment I am particularly proud of - in response to the inevitable "Why should we hire you?" I answered "I'm the best at what I do - and what I do is pretty nice." (From X-Men Origins - Wolverine - ish) I'm feeling pretty confident that I'll make the next round.

Song of the week, in honor of my interview, is Weird Al's "Mission Statement" - yay buzzwords!

On Tucson

***At a visit with a class to the UA Poetry Center, I wrote a poem based on Tucson and Cathy Park Hong's "Ballad in O". Yes, it was an assignment, but I kinda like the result.***

Well, I'll tell you
The sand and the sun burn hot
While the people move fast,
Heads down,
Hands out,
Holding more bright lights and thumbing away.
The cacti stand idly by
Continuing their slow growth
As they have for ages and centuries past,
Arms raised, pleading to an unrelenting yellow star.
I see them, and I see you
In this red brown misbegotten city
Of a college town,
And it's beautiful and ugly and glorious in the same glance.
I am but a traveler here, stuck
By the endless beach with no ocean in sight.
Won't you look up, see not the dusty array
Of squat buildings and black asphalt,
But see me,
Standing,
Walking,
Talking,
Wanting to see some hope,
Some kindness,
Some love
Here.
Well, I'll tell you this -
It's always there -
Invisible, waiting, hiding -
Here.