Is a highly vocal cheese drawer considered a cheddarbox?
Okay, so I know it’s been out on YouTube for a couple days now, but I just got around to listening to Adele’s new song, Hello.
And holy crap.
A lot of the YouTube commenters are saying it’s not one of her better songs, but I think it’s the best one she’s done.
It hurts my soul in the best way.
Grad School News
So here’s some news: I’m going to have two supervisors at school instead of one from now on.
Reason is as follows: Dr. Chen said that he wanted to talk to me after class today, and he basically told me that because I’m doing my own research topic rather than one he selected for me for my thesis, he wants to make sure that I’ve got someone who knows the topic a little bit more than he does (he doesn’t specialize in SEM or anything like that).
He also said that one of the new professors in the department has a strong background in latent variable modeling (SEM is a common technique used when you’ve got latent variables) who is applying for grants. One of the criteria they look at to determine whether or not to give you grant money is how much experience you have supervising students. Since the new professor is, well, new, she doesn’t have any experience being a supervisor. Thus, Dr. Chen thinks that having her be a co-supervisor could be beneficial to us both, as she will be able to put down that she’s currently supervising a grad student and I’ll have someone who’s quite familiar with SEM working with me as I do my thesis.
Coolio.
Oh, and her name is Dr. Shen. My co-supervisors are Dr. Chen and Dr. Shen.
That is awesome.
FAKE CLASS SCHEDULE OMFG
HEY, SO…
The Spring 2016 class schedule is out for the U of I. YAY! Time to make a fake schedule!
This schedule’s going to be filled with basically all the classes I find interesting rather than ones that I have the prerequisites for.
‘Cause why not.
LIFE IS SHORT; TAKE CLASSES YOU’RE NOT PREPARED FOR!
M/W/F
MATH 386: Theory of Numbers (9:30 – 10:20)
PLSC 205: General Botany (1:30 – 12:20) (shut up, it sounds cool)
F
THE 440: Playwriting (10:30 – 1:20)
T/H
MUSA 321: Concert Band (12:30 – 1:45)
ENGL 492: Advanced Fiction Writing (2:00 – 3:15) (I actually did take this class, but this time it’s offered with Orozco and he’s fantastic, so I’d take it again)
T
PLSC 205L: General Botany Lab (9:30 – 12:20)
Also: Alex (Dr. Woo) will be teaching Analysis of Algorithms in the spring? OH MY GOD, that would be a fun class to take with him as the prof. Alex is badass.
(Not that it wasn’t a fun class when I took it with Dr. Nielsen—‘cause it was—but Alex has a totally different style.)
Eminem is a rapper. M&M’s come in a wrapper. CONSPIRACY??
I’ve used the Sleep Cycle Smart Alarm Clock app for 50 nights now, so why not look at some data from it? The two things I track are the length of my sleeps and the quality ratings (which are, as far as I can tell, based partly off of how long a sleep is and how much time is spent in deep sleep according to the app).
SO.
As far as time goes, I’ve slept an average of 4 hours and 35 minutes over the past 50 nights, with the shortest night being 3 hours and 13 minutes and the longest night being 7 hours and 43 minutes.
For quality, my average over the past 50 nights has been 45.37%, with a minimum of 21% and a maximum of 79%.
Graph!
Yeah, I don’t sleep very much.
Walker: Texas Pedestrian
Alright, I have a new long-term goal.
I am going to try to walk the distance equivalent to the circumference of the earth. I say “long-term” because if I walk 2,000 miles in a year (which I’m going to say is probably my max, given school and related things), it will still take me 12.5 total years to walk the circumference (which is approximately 25,000 miles at the equator).
BUT IT WILL HAPPEN, DAMMIT! I’m starting with this year, meaning I’ll be done sometime in 2027, assuming I’m able to keep my yearly mileage around 2,000.
I still won’t be done blogging by 2027.
OH MY GOD.
Total Eclipse of the Moon. Or Sun. Or Heart. Whatevs.
Nate and I were talking recently about solar eclipses vs. lunar eclipses. It seems like lunar eclipses are rarer than solar eclipses, just given the number of announcements we hear about each.
Both types of eclipse actually happen about the same number of times each year (usually two solars and two lunars). However, it IS more common to see a lunar eclipse, due to the different sizes of the earth, moon, and sun, as well as the different angles of the moon and sun in the sky.
A lunar eclipse occurs when the moon moves into the shadow of the earth. That is, it occurs when the earth is in between the sun and the moon. This type of eclipse can be seen anywhere on earth where the moon is over the horizon, which is approximately half the earth at any given time.
A solar eclipse occurs when the moon is in between the earth and the sun. The shadow cast by the moon onto the earth’s surface is quite small—about 300 miles in diameter. Thus, only the people/animals/sentient things within that small disk of moon shadow as it moves across the earth will be able to see the solar eclipse.
The difference in the number of reports on lunar vs. solar eclipses might just be due to the fact that when a solar eclipse is about to happen, a lot of sources might want to report on it so that they can tell people who might expect to see it. With a lunar eclipse, it’s more like, “well, about half the world can see this, so it’s not as newsworthy.”
Maybe. I dunno.
So there you go.
Godberry: King of the Juice
Yay, an internetz quiz! This one will tell you your Greek God parentage. Because why not.
Result: Hephaestus
Your godly parent is Hephaestus, Blacksmith of the Gods, Lord of the fire, forge and volcanoes.
You are brilliant and ingenuous and are known for building your way out of trouble. Children of Hephaestus love science and technology a lot, and end up with hobbies and careers to evidence this. Not unlike Athena, children of Hephaestus can sometimes be so consumed with their ideas and projects that they can neglect their personal responsibilities. Most of the time however, this detachment from society provides concentration and focus to finish their projects faster, whence they would require a break and get back into the world. You might have a reputation from not building many social attachments, but instead sticking to a few people that understand your quirks. Despite your gruff and calculated exterior, you genuinely get along with many people and you would help people out in a heartbeat. You never forget those who have been kind to you, but you are also not quick to give up on grudges much like children of Hades. You are also underestimated by many of your peers, and only gain their respect after having to prove yourself. When disturbed or disrespected, you can use your skills to hurt people but this is very rare.
Qualities
Creativity, ingenuity, inventiveness, resilience, introversion, insecurity, concentration, kindness
(I STILL SUCK)
Last night I had a dream in which a guy I didn’t know sat next to me on the bus and was telling me that he was sexually attracted to lettuce.
Um.
Anyway, I feel like 11 different types of garbage today, so that’s all you get. I’m an expert at disappointing everyone, anyway.
WOW I SUCK
I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck
I SUCK
Election Day Canada
Yay, it’s election day here! Elections at the federal level are a bit different than they are in the States (for one, elections can be called at any time, not just every x years like we do down there; for another, they don’t spend 50 years campaigning before the votes), but there are still a few similarities. Right now Canada has a Conservative Prime Minister, Harper, but as of my writing this it’s projected that the Liberals will win.
Edit: Yup, Liberals won! Justin Trudeau, son of Pierre Trudeau (a former Prime Minister), is going to take the position.
Have a picture of the voting results (Canada uses blue for Conservative and red for Liberal, which is kind of opposite the US party colors…though Canada has more parties (at least more visible/impactful/electable parties) than the US does). And “NDP” stands for “National Democratic Party.”
Canadian Mall – Installment 22: Core Centre
Holy crap, it’s a Canadian Mall post! I haven’t done one of those in like 40 years. Today I’ll blog about Core Center (or I guess Core Centre, since it’s Canadian), though this isn’t the first time I’ve been here. Technically Nate and I went here on our second date. So yeah, sometime last December was the first time I was here, haha.
ANYWAY.
Mileage from home to mall:
Pros:
- It’s got a little inside garden (okay, a big inside garden) that’s very peaceful and cool to look at, especially with the water features. There’s usually someone in there playing piano, too, so it’s nice.
- Bookstore!
- It’s downtown and thus is a nice intermediate point for our longer walks that take us through downtown but to a destination a ways away.
- Part of the mall is structured so that if you’re on one of the higher floors and are looking across the way to the other side of the mall, it looks like you’re looking at the outside of another building. It’s a weird little illusion, but it’s pretty cool.
Cons:
- It’s tucked away rather unassumingly in a building downtown, which makes it impossible to find for people like me. It’s a good thing Nate knows where it is. I also never would have found this on my own, just because it doesn’t look like a mall from the outside.
- They close the bathrooms in the food court on the weekends. What.
The List…The List…The List is on Fire!
- The City of Calgary doesn’t need street sweepers. All they need is to have me walk around in the road and I’ll collect all the dust. Seriously, my feet/ankles/legs get ridiculously dusty on my walks.
- In related news: My second toe on my left foot has morphed into a permanent callus. There’s no toe there anymore. Just callus.
- I AM A KAZOO!
- I am also really nervous about getting my grade back for the test I took on Thursday. Kazoos don’t do well on tests.
- OH MY GOD
- I haven’t had a migraine in a while. I hope my saying that doesn’t trigger one!
- Have a picture I took a while ago of clouds over Calgary.
THE END!
I’m ignoring yesterday’s events by playing The Sims
I HAVE AN IDEA!
Since both my grandpa and grandma on my dad’s side have passed away, my dad and my aunt/uncles have decided to put their California house up for sale.
This makes me super sad; I always liked grandma’s house—it’s huge and weird and has a pool—and given how often I’ve moved houses in my life, it was nice to know that that house would always be the same. But now it will soon belong to someone else.
SO, what I’ve decided to do is build the house as accurately as I can in The Sims, including accurate (well, as accurate as possible) furniture and décor and all that fun stuff. It’s going to take a while ‘cause that house is huge, but I’m going to do it! I’ll post screenshots here when I’m done (as if anyone cares).
BLUCHGLSKJFG
Well, I’m pretty sure that was the worst I’ve ever done on a test.
Fantastic.
I guess we’ll have to wait and see until next week to see if my “Complete Loser” status is confirmed.
I’m going to go die in a corner now.
Proof that President #1 is still #1
I’m pretty sure I’ve posted this video before, but I need to do it again because I’ve had this damn song in my head ALL DAY LONG and I can’t get it out.
Berkeley
This found its way onto my Tumblr dash. It’s an interesting read. It seems unlikely that he would fabricate all of this, but there’s something about it that seems a little extreme. Having worked as a lecturer at the U of I (which, as we all know, is just as prestigious as UC Berkeley) and having worked WITH lecturers at the U of C, I’ve seen things done both ways: lecturers get basically complete freedom with how/what they teach and as long as they get good reviews, it’s all fine (U of I), or they have to teach to rather specific rules/guidelines, to the point where their instruction has to be similar enough to other lecturers so that there can be a common final for all sections of a particular class, even if the sections are all taught by different people (U of C). It can be hard either way, I think.
But either way, that seems to be only part of what this guy’s saying in his statement.
Edit: here’s a different perspective.
Thanks
It’s Canadian Thanksgiving today! Nate and I (and his parents and brother) went down to his grandma’s house to have dinner with her and some other members of the family. Nate and I played catch with a pinecone for like two hours while we were there, ‘cause we’re adults.
It was fun. Nate’s family is cool.
Of course someone’s always pushing the envelope. Otherwise it’s just stationery.
HELLO, PEOPLE!
So I had this fantastic idea the other night to figure out, in total, how many miles/steps/whatevers I’ve put on my iPod since I bought it way back in February 2012.|
This idea was promptly destroyed, however, when I discovered that my 2012 walking data is nowhere to be found. I have 2010’s (for the three months I walked during that year, haha), I have 2011’s, and I have 2013-2015. But no 2012.*
How about I figure out, in total, how many miles/steps/whatevers I’ve put on my iPod since January 1, 2013?
HERE WE GO WITH SOME SUMMARY STATS
Total distance: 3,769.68 miles (average per walk: 4.358 miles)
Total steps: 7,932,075 (average per walk: 9,170)
Total calories burned: 211,136 (average per walk: 290.33)
I also wanted to try to see if my average number of miles walked is significantly different year by year. So I did an ANOVA! The ANOVA turned out to be highly significant (F(2,862) = 126.26, p < 0.001), which suggests that at least two years have significantly different mileage averages. Some Tukey Pairwise comparisons showed that all three years had significantly different average mileage from one another. Here are the means:
2013: 2.803 miles per walk
2014: 5.647 miles per walk
2015: 6.664 miles per walk.
Have some graphs!
*That missing year of data is really stressing me out, you have no idea.
Mileage Update
Hello, fools!
Counting today’s mileage, I’ve officially walked 1,000 miles since May 1st. It’s taken me nearly 11 solid days of walking to do it, but there ya go. That means I’ve walked 1,750 miles for the year, which surpasses my goal mileage, 1,500. YAY!
It also means that I’ll have to try for 2,000 miles total by the end of the year.
I’ll do it.
Impending Canadian winter cannot stop me.
Honey, I Shrunk the Quail
You guys want to see the cutest birds ever?
Behold: BUTTON QUAILS!
(Photos from here.)
THE ONE ON THE RIGHT IN THAT MIDDLE PHOTO IS A BABY BUTTON QUAIL.
Have a video.
They had a button quail a while back at the pet store where we got Jazzy and it was super cute.
NaNoWriMo restart!
The NaNoWriMo website has been reset, meaning that NaNoWriMo 2015 is approaching quickly!
I’m preeeeetty sure I’m going to participate this year…that might change due to school stuff if necessary, but barring that, I’m totally going to do it. I think my idea for this year’s novel will come from a dream I had awhile back. It was about this realtor in some town out in the desert who not only had to act as a realtor for the living inhabitants of the town but for the dead ones as well (the ghosts). That is, he had to figure out how best to divide the real estate market between those who wanted to live in houses and those who wanted to haunt them. Every time he screws up, someone ends up living in a haunted house.
It’s a pretty dumb idea, but I like the title “Ghost Town Realty” for it even though it’s not really a ghost town he’s dealing with.
Blah. We’ll see how it goes.
Is an admirable bakery product considered a roll model?
OH GOD I DOWNLOADED THE SIMS 3.
I haven’t played it since 2012, I’m pretty sure. But I got the urge to play it again the other day and magically remembered my old Origin username and password so that I didn’t have to buy a new copy.
(Like that would have deterred me.)
TIME TO MAKE A FAMILY!
Update: I made a dude named Dominic. He’s got a crap job and no money ($14 as of my writing this) and a house that contains the bare minimum furniture to keep him alive and somewhat happy.
Update 2: HE GOT FREAKING ROBBED. The robber stole his fridge. Seriously? The dude was so desperate for a fridge that he broke into the crappiest house in the neighborhood and made off with the crappiest fridge that had no food in stock? Why didn’t the robber steal Dominic’s last $14 to go on a McDonald’s binge or something?
Update 3: Oh good, the cops recovered the fridge. THANK GOD, THAT WAS ALMOST TRAGIC.
Update 4: Dominic was super lonely (he’s a social Sim), so I made him a roommate named Leon The Lion to keep him company.
Update 5: Aww, they’re in love now!
Update 6: Leon proposed! Time to plan a wedding. Unfortunately, Dominic wants a lot of people at the wedding, and as of right now him and Mr. The Lion are the only two Sims in the neighborhood. Time to build friends!
(Further updates to follow, most likely.)
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