YO LISTEN UP, here’s a blog post
Hey, look who’s been on WordPress for three years now.
Here are my top countries by viewer count since February 2012. I don’t know if I just have one stalker in a few of these high-ranking countries or if just that many people have looked at Eigenblogger once, thought, “OH GOD, NO!” and moved on.
I vote for the latter.
Blah.
Sorry, my head hurts.
Roar
Hello again!
Today, Nate and I took a little road trip to Drumheller to check out the Royal Tyrrell Museum, a museum dedicated solely to paleontology. It’s tucked away a little ways outside of Drumheller proper, but it’s super cool and worth visiting if you have any interest at all in paleontology and/or dinosaurs in general. I should have brought my good camera, but since all I had was my iPod, these are the only pics y’all get.
Check it out if you’re ever in southern Alberta!
Mathin’
I FOUND SOMETHING ELSE I WANT.
IT IS A MATH STENCIL.
IT IS GLORIOUS.
CAPS LOCK.
Look at this. Look at those lower case Greek letter stencils. I’ve needed those so many times in the past.
Freaking zeta.
(Image from Tumblr.) And the curly braces. THE CURLY BRACES, PEOPLE.
Edit: Okay, found the motherlode.
This is glorious.
Stuff!
Have I done one of those “Claudia wants material stuff” posts lately? I’m too lazy to go back and look, but I have a desire to do another one because I just found like three books on Amazon that look snazzy.
And hell, the main reason I even make these types of posts at all is so that if/when I have a little extra money flying around, I don’t have to remember “what was it I wanted to buy?” but can just go back to my last materialistic post instead.
‘Cause, y’know, I’m cool like that.
Anyways.
(I’m not really that materialistic, I swear.)
Advanced R
“This book not only helps current R users become R programmers but also shows existing programmers what’s special about R. Intermediate R programmers can dive deeper into R and learn new strategies for solving diverse problems while programmers from other languages can learn the details of R and understand why R works the way it does.”
Handbook of Statistical Distributions with Applications
“Presenting both common and specialized probability distribution models, as well as providing applications with practical examples, this handbook offers comprehensive coverage of plots of probability density functions, methods of computing probability and percentiles, algorithms for random number generation, and inference, including point estimation, hypothesis tests, and sample size determination.”
Statistical Distributions
“Following a basic introduction, forty popular distributions are outlined in individual chapters that are complete with related facts and formulas.”
Retro Creeper! (I might have posted this before)
BLaldufoisdhkjdaghadkfh
CARRY ON MY WAYWARD SUN
YOU’LL BE DWARFED WHEN YOU ARE DONE
LAY YOUR FUSION CORE TO REST
DON’T YOU BURN NO MORE
(Ignore me, I’m feeling lousy and this was pretty much all that was in my head.)
Valentine’s!
YAY, today was fun. :)
Nate and I went on a 16-mile walk, stopped to get poutine and candy, hung out at Chinook Centre, made some super awesome pasta once we got home, and watched The Avengers.
Pretty damn good Valentine’s Day if you ask me.
Uhhhhhhhh…
I had a dream last night about a French-Canadian version of Beck.
His name was Quebeck.
See the Light
I’d like to think that if I ever decided to start completely over with this schooling business*, I’d like to work to become a heliophysicist or a helioseismologist, because the sun is a freaking amazing thing. Want some evidence? Check it:
Our star is a badass.
*Something I wouldn’t ever rule out, knowing me.
LET’S GET ‘EM
I HAVE HAD
THIS SONG
STUCK IN MY HEAD ALL DAMN DAY
Remember when we’d just randomly quote parts of this?
Well, hell.
UGH so today was eventful.
Last night, Vaio was acting kind of strange, giving me a bit of trouble and just running really glitchy-like. This morning it was completely dead. Basically, it was acting like it did back last May when we had to take it in and wipe the hard drive and basically start from scratch.
So I considered a few things:
- Fixing Vaio last time, when I was in the States, was pretty damn expensive. It would probably be at least 125% as expensive up here.
- After the first hard drive incident, I looked up the problem online and it sounds like such a thing was fairly common with that model of Vaio. In fact, there were some people who said it had happened to them up to four times with one computer.
- I have a huge project due on Thursday and don’t have time for screwing around.
I made the decision to use my teaching award money to get a new laptop. I took the bus to a Best Buy on the other side of town and got myself a new shiny! It’s an hp with a touchscreen and a 1 TB harddrive. It’s pretty. Hopefully it will last me a long time!
Now I have to name it. I can’t call it “Vaio” ‘cause it’s not a Vaio, and just calling it “hp” sounds dumb.
I shall think on it.
Canadian Mall – Installment 21: Westbrook Mall
Hey look, it’s one of those Canadian Mall posts. I haven’t done one of those in quite some time, have I? Anyway. Today Nate and I walked down to Westbrook Mall, a mall down kind of in the southwest part of the city.
Mileage from home to mall (one way; from Nate’s house, not mine):
Pros:
- A nice little quiet mall. It wasn’t very crowded at all.
- There’s a Walmart, apparently. I either didn’t see it or just wasn’t paying attention.
Cons:
- Like most malls, the parking lot is a death trap for pedestrians.
- There were no super special standout stores. It’s a small mall.
- The walk was good, though!
END!
Wonderful Noise
Holy crapples. If you haven’t watched Gravity yet, you need to do so, even if it’s just for the scene that goes along with this amazing song:
Or just for that song alone.
A POST TO END ALL POSTS (not really.)
Here are some bullet points that apply to my life right now:
- I live in Calgary
- I’ve been keeping a daily record of my life for the past 8.75 years
- I have a math degree
- I have someone wonderful to love (and who loves me back)
- I’m still in school
- I am in a graduate program for statistics
- I like teaching (statistics)
- I like walking for exercise/pleasure
Ten years ago, I was in the midst of my junior year of high school. If you had told me even one of these bullet points was going to apply to me in ten years, I would never have believed you. If you had told me all of them were going to apply to me at the same time, I probably would have just laughed at you. But here I am, ten years later, and they all apply.
Hell, if you would have told me any portion of these points even five years ago, I probably wouldn’t have believed you.
Life is weird.
Wow, a survey, how original!
Sure, let’s survey it up, what the hell.
1. Are you more feminine or masculine?
I’m more robot than anything.
2. Are you tall or short?
ACCORDING TO MY ROBOT EMOTION CHIP, THIS QUESTION OFFENDS ME.
3. What’s your favorite color?
Orange! It has to be the right shade of orange, though. None of that red-orange nonsense.
4. What do you love about yourself?
Uh…my eyelashes are pretty snazzy.
5. What’s your greatest flaw?
IT’S HARD TO PICK. I’m going to go with the fact that it’s really hard for me not to dwell on my own mistakes. I can make the smallest mistake and let it ruin my day if I don’t really watch myself and try not to go to that bad head space. If you know me in person, you’ve probably witnessed this at least once.
6. Do you see yourself differently than other people describe you?
Probably. I’ve never really had anyone describe me to myself, so I can’t really be sure.
7. What are you really, really good at?
I suppose I’m good at teaching stats. That was the evidence points to, at least. I’m not good at much else.
8. What’s something you’re bad at, but love?
Math. There’s no denying I’m bad at it, but I love it so.
9. How do you spend your free time?
Drawing, blogging, writing, walking, internetz.
10. Describe the way you dress in one sentence.
Crayola factory explosion.
11. Have you ever gotten your nails professionally painted?
Nope.
12. What color is your hair?
BLACKER THAN THE BLACKEST BLACK TIMES INFINITY (I know I’ve used that Metalocalypse quote every time a survey asks my hair color, but I don’t care)
(ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ～『✧~*PHILOSOPHY*~✧』
13. Do you believe in god?
Nope.
14. Does love really exist?
Damn straight.
15. Can science explain everything, eventually?
Possibly? I suspect there will always be at least some things/experiences out there that are just not able to be explained by the way humans conduct science.
16. Are we raised into what we love?
Only if we let ourselves be.
17. How do you feel about the school system?
DON’T GET ME STARTED ON STANDARDIZED TESTING.
18. Do you believe in fate/destiny?
Ssssssort of. In a way.
19. What is art?
ART IS LIFE LIFE IS ART ZOMG I’M SO DEEP
20. Do we define ourselves, or does our past?
The past is part of ourselves, in my opinion, so at least to some extent we are defined by it.
21. What happens after we die?
We are still universe stuff; we just transition into other universe stuff.
22. Do humans matter—tiny specs on a floating piece of rock in a solar system in a galaxy in an infinite universe?
Yes, we matter. Everything matters. It’s all connected.
23. Is there good in everyone?
“Good” is subjective.
24. Does apathy really exist?
Who cares?
(ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ～『✧~*LOVEY-DOVEY PREFERENCE STUFF*~✧』
25. What gender do you prefer?
I prefer people who identify as men.
26. What’s the first thing you notice about someone?
Uh…that they’re human? I have no freaking idea.
27. Could you love someone you found ugly?
If I loved someone, they wouldn’t be ugly to me. If that makes any sense at all.
28. Favorite hair color?
Either blonde or super dark.
29. Favorite eye color?
Depends on the hair color! I like the blue eyes/blonde hair combo, but with any other hair color, I like dark brown eyes. I have no idea why.
30. Ideal height?
I’m not picky! Though if they were too tall, it’d be hard to kiss them standing up.
31. What do you look for—brains or looks?
Brains, yo.
32. How much of an age gap can you handle?
Maybe up to two or three years younger and up to 10 or so years older.
33. How would you introduce yourself on a blind date?
I would not go on a blind date. That would be terrifying. Hell, regular dates can be terrifying.
34. Could you forgive a cheater?
HAHAHA, I thought that read, “could you forgive a cheddar” and I was like NO, cheddar is the asshole of the cheese world. He will take your gouda day and ruin it in the worst whey.
35. Is lying about something serious as bad as cheating?
Depends on what the serious thing is and how it’s lied about. Maybe it’s something that the partner is too afraid to admit or something that they felt would cause damage to the relationship. There’s lots of gray area with things like that, and I don’t think that a lie about something serious is necessarily a super serious bad thing. Though, of course, trust is important.
36. Right now, you could call the person you like/love, or show up at their front door, and just confess or kiss them or whatever. What’s stopping you?
It’s four in the morning!
Winter Walk!
So I just found this last night.
“Winter Walk Day 2015: Join schools, community groups, workplaces and individuals to walk for at least 15 minutes on February 4th. Register and then record your minutes after your walk.”
Of course today was the one day I didn’t feel like walking to/from school, but I did it anyway!
Mileage: 6.47
Steps: 13,670
Speed: 4.05 MPH
WOO!
Sad News
(Birthday, 27 years old, party all the time, blah blah blah.)
Of much more importance is the following news: Monty Oum, an animator at Rooster Teeth (the parent company of Achievement Hunter) and the creator of RWBY, passed away yesterday from a severe allergic reaction that had put him in a coma last week.
It’s always sad to hear news like this, especially since he was only 33.
Rest in peace, Monty.
Chinooks and Crannies
Winter has returned to Calgary.
SURVEY TIEM!!!
Average hours of sleep:
Four hours? Five hours? I’ve been sleeping longer on the weekends, so that probably drags the average back up to five hours.
Last thing I Googled:
I googled “Clippy.” For reasons.
How many blankets I sleep under:
Three, haha. It’s Canada, what do you want.
What are you wearing right now:
Pajama pants and my old David Hume shirt. And underthingies, of course.
Last book you read:
The last book book? The Hunchback of Notre Dame. Yeah, yeah, I know, I read that like four months ago. Shut up.
Favorite fictional character:
Either Phileas Fogg or Captain Queeg.
Last movie I watched in the cinema:
Uh…Watchmen. Way back in 2009.
Dream vacation:
Unrealistic: Antarctica. More realistic: Hanover.
Dream wedding:
Are we in love? Did we both want to get married and have a wedding? Will there be music at said wedding? There ya go. Dream wedding.
Dream pet:
Cat. Or cats.
Dream job:
Statistics professor! Or even just a lecturer. Or even a part time lecturer, like I was before.
(Just let me teach stats. Please. I’m begging you.)
Which is worse, failing or never trying?
Depends on what you’re doing. Asking someone out on a date? Never trying is worse. Sky diving? Failing’s obviously worse.
Deep Thoughts
Did anyone ever check if Carmen Sandiego was in San Diego?
I wonder if she was thinking, “You fools, I’m giving you the biggest, most obvious hint, and you’re STILL NOT FINDING ME? Screw this, I’m changing my name to Carmen Miami and retiring.”
Books!
So I got two super cool books for my birthday from some guy named Nate. :)
Observe!
This is like the definitive Newton bio. I’ve wanted to read this since I first heard of it, and now I can! I might have to put it on the bookshelf opposite of the bookshelf with my Leibniz shrine, though, haha.
Giant Antarctica book (this picture makes it look deceptively average-sized). It’s been a looong time since I got a new book on Antarctica, so yay!
Now the question is, do I delve right into Newton’s bio or should I re-read Leibniz’ for the nth time first? I’ll read them both back-to-back, it’s just a question of which one to start with.
Thank you, Nate! :D
UPS vs. Canada
My mom shipped two packages from the US, since all my swag (read: boots and M&Ms) would not fit in my suitcase.
Now one of the packages is lost in the vast Canadian wilderness.
Or it’s in the back of a UPS truck somewhere. Same thing.
Also, I ordered a new backpack from L.L. Bean, but that apparently got lost in Ottawa somewhere, so who knows when that’s getting here.
And now for something completely unrelated: this pasta looks super tasty.
END!
Tacos! (This post has nothing to do with tacos.)
I’m pretty sure that Gabe Flaherty is one of the best remix artists out there. He’s the guy who did the amazing remix of Coldplay’s Paradise that’s still one of my absolute favorite songs. His other remixes are super cool, too. Here are my favorites (including Paradise). Check them out, and if you like them, give his YouTube channel a look!
Eigenblogger 