Ice cream

It's spring time. Also almost the end of the term. Finally :). Tomorrow is the last final, on wednesday it's the last project day :). Then it's 3 months of research, and then I'm off to Michigan (I've been accepted as a PhD student in Michigan State University).

This picture is me enjoying pittsburgh. Just sitting on the cathedral of learning lawn eating ice cream and reading comics (borrowed from the Carnegie Library :) )

The Talking Bus Driver

There is one bus driver that stands out among other Pittsburgh's bus drivers. He's on the 71A route (the route I take to go to campus) and passes my house at 10.30.

Why does he stand out? He talks. Bus driver's are not normally known for their eloquence. They don't say much unless spoken to. They probably would yell out the name of the stop "Center and neville", or a few grunts, the nicer ones says "Have a nice day", and some other I know says "pay when you get off".

This driver is different. This driver likes to talk. He doesn't talk personally to one person or make jokes or anything like that. He says the same things as other drivers but in a more elegant fashion. For example, instead of saying "Fifth and Craig", he would say something like "Fifth and craig, PNC bank, The diocese, access to pittsburgh blind...". He would also say "Please don't leave your things on the buses, gloves, hats... and please be careful out there folks. Beware of traffic look left and right for incoming traffic".

He has a nice voice, although I don't know how he doesn't get a sore throat after talking like that non stop. Lozenges I suspect.

So many blogs, so little time

I've just added a couple more blogs to my blogging collecction. Work related, all of them. The first one is my research blog which can be accessed at the pitt server. The research blog contains the trials and adulation I face as a researcher. Most of it is just outlining my work, also what I did today. Is a research blog a good idea? Probably not. People can see that I've been slacking off, also people can steal my ideas huh. Hmmm. The only good thing about it is that I hope to get more comments, more ideas, and also some justification for some of the (bad :) ) choices that I made.

Another blog is on my computer. This blog is not for public viewing. It's just a blog for the projects that i am doing. Basically I want to read it in the future and see.. Wow I've really gone quite far.

Let's welcome the new year

Well, another year has passed. The year 2004 is almost over. In fact it will be over in about 5 hours. The year 2005 is coming.

What a year it has been. Two world defining elections. The first one was in Indonesia. Okay.. so that's not so world defining. The second one in the US between Kerry and Bush. A lot of people (especially outside the US) wanted Kerry to win, but it was not to be. If I were American, I'd make a joke about being stuck with bush for another 4 years, unfortunately...

Boston red sox won the baseball 'world series' (if world means north america), lifting a 'curse' fans believe have been put on their team since 1918.

Finally, we end on a somber note. The final days of 2004 was marred with one of the worst natural disasters this planet has faced.

On a more personal note, I spent one full year in the United States, and I'm still alive to tell the tale. I broke up with my third girlfriend :) but who's counting. I've also finished 3 semester of courses (29 credits). I've also taken so many tests; TOEFL, GRE, TSE as a requirement for applying to a PhD school.

The most wonderful thing happening to me this year is my reacquaintance with a very special woman. We've grown so close these last few months. A funny, sweet, smart, and very kind person who I have had some very special moments with. Just the thought of her makes me smile...

As for the future...
Here's wishing a great year 2005.

It's christmas time

It's christmas. It doesn't feel like christmas though. Maybe it's because I live in an area where most of the people are students who go home in the holidays. Maybe because I've spent the last three days in front of the computer trying to configure coLinux and I really don't know what's out there. Maybe it's because I can't be bothered to go to the downtown area to see what's up there.

It feels so different from my childhood in Australia. Even though I didn't celebrate christmas, there's always this buzz around christmas. My friends would be excited over christmas. The school would be decorated in green and red. We would talk about santa claus. We would go to the mall, and see the christmas decoration and participate in the well known christmas tradition of gobbling everything that's on sale :).

It's quiet here. The television shows show christmas specials. There are lawn ornaments. I feel the buzz is missing. I'm not sure if it's because I don't look for that christmas environment, or because there are none.

One of the things missing here is the chants and writings of "Merry Christmas". It's been usurped by the "Merry Xmas" or by the generalized form of "Happy Holidays" (which by the way consists of hannukah, christmas, and maybe even new year). Part of the reason for this is that Americans are trying hard not to offend people who do not share their beliefs, in doing so, they do not want to be affiliated with a particular religion or group. Because christmas itself is affiliated with christians (duh) people here tend to shy away from using the words "Merry Christmas".

Merry Christmas to all who celebrate it.
Happy new year to all who celebrate it on the first of January.
Happy holidays to all who are on holidays.
Good luck to the rest of us.

Pittsburgh

Went out to Mt. Washington the other day. Last week if I'm not mistaken. Took a picture of pittsburgh from the top. Nice beautiful city



a picture of me.. just for good measure

Campus newspaper

One of the things I look forward most is reading the campus newspaper. It has just local campus news. Like who is in the student government board. Or things related to campus life, like the funding cuts for the Pittsburgh transportation system.

There are some other interesting things there. Where to get cheap tickets. Reviews to movies. Opinions. Sex advice. Yes... Sex advice. Some of the more "interesting" topics were threesomes (if you don't know what that means, hmmmm good for you) and having sex with your best friend's mother (I sincerely hope the person with the problem was only kidding).

Our campus newspaper (the pitt news) also gives a bonus magazine that comes out every thursday. The "Sports Illustrated on campus". It's basically about college sports (you know college football, college basketball, college athletics).

Like today, someone conveniently left the Sports Illustrated on Campus magazine in the classroom I am taking a class in. Nice of him to do so.

So when the professor was explaining the concept of cost ratio .. I was reading the magazine. Time sure flies quickly when you're reading something interesting.

Anyway.. Right now I don't have the slightest clue about the cost ratio spoken about by the professor.
But I do know that Adrian Peterson, the Oklahoma Football player is the magazine's sportsman of the fall term.

First post

This blog is for the random happenings in my life.. blue sky.. bad food .. snow falling .. a software company trying to take over the world ..

Unlike the sister blog this blog is not as serious. It does not mean that this blog will be filled faster though.