Yes, it took me this long to find my camera cord
Hey!
I walked around campus a bit more this afternoon and got some pics. Then I walked south, though not far enough to get to downtown, and captured a few more pics. Observe London and UWO! Clicky for large size.
Outside the front of my dorm.
The library.
The main drag, Oxford Lane.
The other main drag, Western Road.
Coat of Arms
.
Downtown on Oxford Street.
My new place
WOO, apartment completely unpacked and organized! Want to see some pics? Of course you do!
Keep in mind that this is technically a dorm room.
Also this:
You gotta love Canada.
SO EXCITED
SO!
Here are the classes I’m probably going to take at Western this semester and next. The MA is only a year-long thing there, so at the end of next summer I’ll be done with that and going onto the PhD, assuming everything goes well. For the MA, we need to take six half-courses in total.
Here are the ones I’m wanting:
Fall semester:
Philosophy 9276A: Philosophical Foundations of Modern Physics
“This seminar will examine the background to contemporary physics, particularly emphasizing two aspects: the philosophical views of space, time, and matter that were part of classical physics, and the views of the nature of scientific theory in general– in particular, of the roles of theory and experience, and the relations between mathematical structure and physical reality– that informed, and were informed by, developments in physics. Authors to be discussed include Newton, Leibniz, Euler, Kant, Helmholtz, Maxwell, Duhem, Mach, Poincaré, Einstein, Heisenberg, Schlick, Carnap, and others.”
Philosophy 9606A: Hume and Reid on Mental Representation
“This course will focus on Hume’s and Reid’s contrasting accounts of the foundations of knowledge and the workings of the mind.”
Philosophy 4993F/9889A: Environmental Philosophy
“This course in environmental philosophy explores some ethical and epistemological issues that arise in the contexts of conservation and restoration ecology. We commonly ear that we ought to preserve biodiversity. What are the moral justifications for such a widely accepted normative claim? Finally, this course will also look into the issue of unpredictability. Scientific and applied ecology were for a long time deeply influenced by an equilibrium paradigm in which nature was conceived of as balanced and predictable. But in the 1970s, ecologists started challenged this view and now endorse what some call a “non-equilibrium” view of nature. We will reflect on this new ecology and how it can affect the way in which policy makers and ecologists approach ecological management.”
Spring semester:
Philosophy 9277B: Philosophy of Probability
“This course is an introduction to philosophical issues connected with probability. Emphasis will be on the strengths and limitations of a probabilistic approach to confirmation in science. Topics will include interpretations of probability, Bayesian reasoning and its relation to classical statistical inference, how to understand conditional probability, and application of probabilistic reasoning to case studies in science.”
Philosophy 9279B: Science and Values
“This seminar considers the roles of values in science from four angles: (1) Values in scientific epistemology: heuristics and pragmatics; (2) Whose science is it?: authority, governance and ownership in science; (3) Scientific communication and moral life: trust, testimony, and obligation; (4) Choices: goals, risks, and the aims of science.”
Philosophy 9608B: Consciousness
“We will consider several philosophical theories of consciousness, including the HOT theory, AIR theory, multiple drafts, and dual aspect theory. We will also consider the role of science in explaining consciousness.”
Cool, huh?
Is it Friday?! GOTTA GET DOWN!
So I just found out today that if you ended your time at the U of I in good academic standing, you’re guaranteed readmission if you decide to re-apply.
And I’m sure I’ve told you of my not-so-secret desire to just stay an undergrad and get a major in every single subject offered by a school.
Therefore, this little tidbit of information makes it SO TEMPTING to just go back to undergrad, even though it WOULD be back in Moscow and I WOULD have to deal again with the most incompetent university on the planet.
But of course I won’t. I’m going to Western.
OH, and that got pushed back a few days for several reasons. I’m leaving Wednesday instead of Monday, so maybe we can all hang out at some point after all.
WOO!
OH THANK YOU COSMOS
HOLY SHIT IT’S OVER.
I successfully defended my thesis this afternoon. Received a nice high grade and was told it was PhD-level work.
Relief level: beyond belief.
Sanity level: depleted, but recharging slowly.
To-do list for the next few days: absolutely nothing, except incessant Fallout playing.
My revisions are limited to typos and a few additional references to check out, then I’m set to turn it in to Grad Studies and get it out there.
I’m going to go do something mindless for awhile. Because I finally can.
Longer entry on thesis conclusion to come later, promise.
Jitters vs. Insanity
Kill me now. I honestly don’t know if I’ll make it through tomorrow.
Party at Claudia’s
Anybody want to come to a party at my house tonight? We’ll be talking about structural equation modeling. Model fit, in particular.
My poor mother will have to undergo three semesters’ worth of math and stats in about half an hour so she can be caught up on my research
to follow my defense presentation enough to be able to ask questions.
The fact that she agreed to do this is one of like five billion reasons why I love her.
Anyway, you all should come. There will be a huge whiteboard and a lot of lambdas.
Be there or be square.
A Wild Thesis Appears!
Thesis = done.
It shall be turned in tomorrow.
Right now I’m going to not do anything productive (read: play Fallout and not work on my defense slides) and maybe clean.
Due to yesterday’s events, my mom shall be coming up here tomorrow.
Thank god.
June 22nd
A month from now, I will be defending my thesis.
Scared all to hell.
Yeah.
ASLDfjalaoiaegfa v
I don’t even care anymore.
Academic year= DONE
YAY, classes are done for the semester. Once this thesis insanity is over, I’m freeee! Which may be another few months, unfortunately.
But whatever.
Sorry for the short blog. Long day. April’s always the least exciting time of the year for me.
How many grad students does it take to configure an office space?
Answer: Three. One to try and decide in what arrangement the desks should be, one to move said desks, and one to realize, after all possible combinations of desk arrangement have been attempted, that they’ve decided on keeping the desks in the order they were originally.
Yeah.
Related news: I’m moving to the Botany Annex, ‘cause the Social/Personality area needs more space. It’s okay, though, ‘cause in the Annex the windows actually open.
Woo.
Today’s song: Put Your Hands Up for Detroit (Radio Edit) by Fedde Le Grande
You can’t spell “analysis” without “anal”
R: $0.00
Tinn-R: $0.00
Stats classes that taught me how to use R: $900.00
Grad school: $2,700.00/semester
Packs of gum to chew when nervous: $30.00
Amount of money I could have earned working in the time I’ve spent on this one figure manipulation (BC minimum wage style): $400.00
Figuring it out finally and, for once, not getting bitched out by my anyone: Priceless
There are some things money can’t buy. For everything else there’s banging your head against a brick wall until epiphany happens.
Today’s song: Palladio by Karl Jenkins
Mother Teresa called — she HATES you
So because I’m me, I’ve decided to plan out a hypothetical “this is what I’d take next semester if I were still at the U of I” schedule. No Flash-made chart this time, ‘cause CS3 blows and I can’t find the CD for good ol’ Flash 5.
Monday/Wednesday/Friday
STAT 507: Experimental Design (9:30 – 10:20)
PHIL 446: Metaphysics (1:10 – 2:20)
MATH 430: Advanced Linear Algebra (2:30 – 3:20)
Tuesday/Thursday
PHYS 111: General Physics I (9:30 – 10:45)
THE 305: Intermediate Acting (11:00 – 12:15)
ENGL 492: Advanced Fiction Writing (3:30 – 4:45)
Monday/Tuesday
STAT 404: Statistics for the Life and Behavioral Sciences (5:30 – 6:45)
Thursday
CASP 509: Psychometrics (5:30 – 8:20)
All week
MUSA 119: Marching Band (12:30 – 1:20; 12:30 – 1:45)
Yeah, it’s only 25 credits, ‘cause I’m sure if I’d petitioned for more than that again they’d deny me again (and because, of course, none of the physics labs would fit with this schedule, so I’d just take the lecture component). ‘Cause it just works like that. This semester would be the “let’s take the next level in all the class strings that I started (like linear algebra, writing, and acting). It’s also the “fuck anyone who gets in my way, I’m TAKING METAPHYSICS” semester.
Today’s song: Opus 36 by Dustin O’Halloran
Appropriately, my summer begins today
Sort of. I’m still technically “enrolled” in my thesis, so I still should be doing research.
Which I am.
What joy.
But at least there are no more classes until September, so I’m FREE FROM CAMPUS! I’m coming back to Moscow on Sunday. Be prepared.
I also had an exceptionally strange dream last night. I can’t really say much about it except for the fact that it involved a lot of whipped cream, nudity, and swimming pools.
That is all.
Today’s song: Jukebox (Radio Edit) [Feat. Nicco] by WaWa
Eine Kleine Nachtfieber
God, today was a shit storm. FUCK YOU, test anxiety, and your ability to turn my near-automatic calculus abilities into “what’s a multiplication sign? I’ve never seen that before.” I can do that stuff in my sleep (quite literally), and you know it. I don’t know why you only do this with math tests. It was like a direct repeat of my final for Math 160.
Seriously. Fuck you.
Ugh.
The ONLY GOOD THING that happened today was going to see Mozart’s “The Magic Flute.” First opera experience. Won’t be the last.
Today’s song: Cooler Than Me by Mike Posner
Grad school is for neurotics
Over the past few days, I’ve had one-on-one conversations with about eight people in various stages of their graduate education (we were going over problem set answers, talking about bitchy advisors, not wanting to do our work, etc.). In each of these conversations, we somehow got around to talking about how we felt about grad school in general, and in each case, every person said something to the effect of, “promise not to tell anyone, but…” and then proceeded to explain how inadequate and unworthy of grad school they felt, how stressed out they were, and how they thought everyone else was much further along in their research and doing much better in their programs then they were.
In short, I’ve deduced that we’re pretty much all neurotic, perfectionistic, school- and grade- and career-obsessed weirdos who have nothing better to do on a Friday night then get together and talk about the Regression problem sets (I kid you not).
I think it’s interesting how everyone, in their own way, has had that feeling of “oh shit, I shouldn’t be here, I’m so far behind all these other people…they’ve all probably got their thesis ideas in mind, their advisors probably love them, I want to quit…” etc., etc.
I think it’s even more interesting that no one seems to think that anyone else gets this way. “Promise not to tell anyone, but…” But what? You’ve felt the same inadequacies that it seems like everyone else here has?
It’s a very strange environment. And we voluntarily chose this insanity.
Today’s song: Remedy by Little Boots
TEN MILLIONS!
This morning I had to sprint ten blocks* to the second bus I catch to get to campus because somehow, in the infinite wisdom that is my half-awake mindset, I managed to screw up the time my second alarm goes off while I was trying to get the first one to shut up. I wouldn’t have even bothered except I had to present for my Measurement class at 9:30 AM…not something you want to miss when the presentation is worth like 30% of your grade, and something I’m damn glad I remembered when I happened to glance at my clock and see a blurry “8:50 AM” displayed.
On the upside, I broke my old record of “this is the fastest I can get to school in panic mode.”
So after that insanity this morning, I then spent all afternoon spazzing over my Regression problem set (due tomorrow) as well as the write-up for my Measurement project (due tomorrow, too). Then I somehow stumbled across the fact that Brian Regan actually does do shows in Canada, and that he was performing tonight at 7:30. So I went to see him, which was super awesome. Worth every dollar, that man is freaking hilarious.
IN OTHER NEWS: classes are over, bitches! Now I just have to turn in these two things tomorrow, invigilate exams on the 21st and 22nd, take my Regression final on the 23rd, turn in the last Measurement homework on the 26th, and grade Infancy crap. Then first year = DONE.
Yeah, that’s all I got.
*Vancouver blocks are like twice the size of Moscow ones, for whatever the hell reason. It takes 15 minutes to walk from 41st to my house on 31st, and I walk pretty damn fast. Not a problem when I don’t have anywhere to be, but in the mornings I much prefer the 2 minute ride on the #7 to get to the UBC bus.
Today’s song: 栄光の架橋 by ゆず
Huh…wouldn’t have guess this
StumbleUpon brought me to Wikipedia’s page on the “Latin honors” for college degrees. Not only did I find out Australia has two different levels of failure (off the “grade” page…and here I must interject: “WTF, mate?”), but the “see also” section also provided me with this.
I found this rather interesting, considering that for the majority of colleges, the U of I’s cutoff points for summa/magna/cum laude are higher than all of these listed. Maybe ‘cause UI is such a small school (SMALL SAMPLE SIZE = RANGE RESTRICTION) they felt the need to have such high cutoff points…who knows.
Haha, sorry, I like this kind of stuff. Had they provided more colleges, I would have made some sort of map to see how the different regions of the US compared in honors cutoffs. Bah.
Also this, ‘cause I found it freakishly funny (and interesting), especially since they were all cracking up the entire time:
Today’s song: Echo by Girls Can’t Catch
CRAIGSLIST YOU ARE MY ONLY COMPANION MAKE HOT SWEET LOVE TO ME YOUR PIC GETS MINE – 22 F
Haha, sorry.
I think I accidentally took some sort of “anti-screw around” drug or something this morning, ‘cause I got a lot of crap done today.
In fact, now that I think about it, today was the least “bad” day I’ve had in a long, long time (up here, that is, I don’t count when I went back to the States for cats/friends/orgies). I actually got that stupid R code to converge this afternoon (so TAKE THAT!), subsequently made pretty graphs, worked on Measurement homework, emailed back the obnoxious Infancy students, and worked on my final project.
I’m also excited ‘cause I get to make a PowerPoint presentation.
I fucking love PowerPoint.
Today’s song: Up by The Saturdays
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