Twenty-two Seconds: The End of the Semester

It might have been long enough since I last blogged that I had to go through my pictures to recall what I should blog about. Whoops.

Homecoming. Light-Up Night. End of semester dinner (and a Steelers game) with freshmen year friends. End of semester dinner (and gift exchange) with my RAs and housefellows.

Oh, and those test things called finals. I did well on those, and those are boring, so we can skip that.

Back in November, I was still kind of cruising along. I had one more job interview with Microsoft before I could make a decision by December 1st.

And I think that's one reason I think I didn't post. Because during October and early November, I was consumed with job hunting. And then when I made my decision to be a front-end software engineer at Applied Predictive Technologies, I had to focus again on classes and the houses for which I am a community advisor.

 

Friends also became a priority as the flow of time became very apparent. One semester left!

After a quick finals week, I caught a ride with my newly hooded (meaning she got her doctorate!) aunt back to DC and the comfy abode of my grandparents.

And how am I feeling, going into next year?

There is so much I'm excited for. However, soon it'll be time. And I'm not dreading it. Because it is time.

And twenty-two seconds*? It reminds me that there is still time to make timeless memories, even as time is flying by.

*The real story is that that is how long it takes for a card with glitter glue on it to start smoking in the microwave when you try to speed up the drying process.

Proof of Fall Colors: Halloween Weekend

I've never not been a fan of Halloween. I just don't really think about my costume much more than a week in advance. Last year, one of my friends dressed up as the Dr. Alan Grant from Jurassic Park, and he carried around the most adorable dinosaur ever...

Which now lives with me.

So Serendipity (so named after a pink dinosaur from my childhood) needed to accompany me this Halloween. So I had to find a costume that would be appropriate with a dinosaur.

 With some suspension of disbelief, I did a cavewoman. Alex and I spent five hours shopping Saturday to pick out the pieces to our costumes. Then we did at least two hours of tailoring to get my thrift store (and pet store... where else are you going to get a bone?) finds to turn into a costume.


While out that day, I made sure to capture some of my (possibly) last fall in Pittsburgh, at least at CMU. It was a gorgeous, though brisk, day.


This building is the house on campus that I live in. It is much prettier than I ever think of it as, mostly because it is hidden behind other buildings, so it seems ashamed of its appearance. But it is nice and cosy for me on the inside.


After all the work on the costumes, it was good that we had somewhere to go! After making Rosie dress up and dragging her along, we stopped by the Lutheran University Center. I skinned my knee playing "Grog" (which sadly has nothing to do with the drink) and we still lost (valiantly!)


All in all, a successful Halloween for the minimal fore-thought and maximal day-of preparations. (Can you guess what everyone in the picture is?)

Fall Colors: Midsemester Break and Job Search Update

I think being in Qatar made me more aware of the seasons changing. Though I've always liked weather. I bathed (or boiled) in the sun in Qatar, I was thrilled by the thunderstorms recently (and those over there), I lean into the wind, and I jump through puddles in my rainboots.

That's not to say that weather doesn't affect me. It just doesn't affect me negatively. Cold? A bit melancholy (but that's not necessarily a negative emotion). Cloudy? A dash of reminiscence. Drizzly? Thankful that I don't need to worry about an umbrella.

Basically, all that is to say that I've been happy with weather in general.

Besides the season changing, I've also been caught up with planning for the future. I dropped over a dozen resumes at the career fair about a month ago, which resulted in four interviews (and two that I turned down), two follow-ups, and now, two off-site, final round interviews! Both next week...

First, I'm getting flown out to Omaha, Nebraska, to interview with Union Pacific Railroad. My grandpa will be happy about that. I'm headed to DC (which my other grandparents are happy about) to look at a company called APT. Both are next week, both are a bit scary, and both have interesting opportunities. (Want details? Give me a buzz.)

All in all, this job search thing is pretty nice at CMU. Software engineers, especially, get courted, and, though that is not something I'm sure I want to go into, it lets me know there are options out there.

I have a few more leads to follow up on, and a few more people to hear back from, but I am on my way to being an employed graduate!

Got a position you think I might like? Here's my resume and you are welcome to add me as a connection on LinkedIn.

It is Deeper so More Good Things Fit In It: A Pirates Game and The Waffle Shop

I realized sometime this semester that I haven't been very good at taking pictures. (Notice the pictures that Andy took on the post before this. Also, Maria's camera has a good number from her time here that I need.)

So I decided to bring my camera to a pretty interesting evening at a ball game (and other stuff).

I learned a bit about baseball today. They possibly have the most losses in history (though they are a pretty old team. And in looking up stats, they are somewhere in the vincinity of 9,500 in franchise history, versus the Phillies that have over 10,000.) So, in other words, "citation needed."

I also learned about dirty balls (like, the rubbed-in-dirt baseball kind) and what buccaneers really means (something about jerky... like beef jerky).

Anyway, so lots of fun with LUC folk while watching a win from the Pirates! You always feel like they gave you a special treat when they do that. When your expectations are of them losing, a win feels like a gift.

I will say, I'm am still amazed and saddened by the cost of food and drink in stadiums. It is over $7 for a beer, and over $6 for any sort of burger. Redonkulous.

After a day (evening) at the ballgame, Rosie, Frank, Alex, and I went to the Waffle Shop. There is a live streaming talk show that happens every night, and I, being me, wanted to go on it. So I talked about HCI ("a mix of psychology, design, computers, with a little bit of crazy mixed in"), the Pirates ("its always like a little gift when they win because you never expect it"), and, of course, waffles. There was a comparison between the thinner waffles and Belgian waffles. My description? "I like the thinner waffles because they are crispier*, but sometimes Belgian waffles are good. The holes are deeper so more good things fit in it."


...Aaaand, that's what she said.

*There is a word made up by the lovely Courtney that explains exactly what I love about waffles: cruffy. Fluffy plus crunchy equals delicious.

Labor Day: My Twenty-Second Birthday and My Sister's Visit

My sister left early in the morning Tuesday the 7th, so I got to sleep in my bed again. However, I was so excited to sleep, that I took a nap before all my work was done, then had to get up at 1am to finish it.

My weekend with my older sister was busy, like many other weekends. But part of me really enjoys showing her how different my life is from hers, and that was a bit exhausting for her, I think. She came in on Saturday morning, and I, being the awful sister I am, didn't wake up to my alarm and go to the airport to get her. Three missed calls and two text messages later, I finally wake up, feeling awful (mostly really, really guilty that I didn't meet her at the airport like I said I would.) So she gets on the 28X, and I meet her (after a shower and quick clean of the room) at the bus stop, apologizing profusely. Brunch and seven hours of hanging out and shopping and games at church and "Princess Bride" at midnight end one exhausting day for her.

Sunday was church (she hasn't been to a Lutheran service in a while, and we have a very traditional service, so I think she enjoyed the chants and hymns.) Then a bit of lunch. Then a bridal shower. We finally made it to game night, and I finally felt like it was my birthday (because it was). So we played games, socialized with a completely new group of people.

So after staying up until 3am, I made her waffles on Monday (Labor Day) and we headed to go see the Cathedral of Learning then downtown. We bought Pirates tickets from a scalper, then went to eat ribs at Heinz Field, then didn't get to see the incline (sadly, one of the things she wanted to do) before I had to be back for a meeting. She basically napped, read, and chatted with her boyfriend while I did meetings until we had a half-price dinner with a totally different group of friends.

So, that was four or more groups of friends we hung out with in the course of three days, and, while social, she is not the crazy social planner that I am, so it makes sense she was exhausted.

Tuesday was catch-up, and Wednesday was... blissfully back to normal.

(Pictures taken by Andy but are on Pat's photostream)

Fended Them Off with Axes and Teamwork: My Dream Journal

For the past week, I've been required to write down my dreams for my Intro to Psych class (you know, the class I'm not attending lectures for right now because my ultimate frisbee class conflicts).

Well, since I have to type them up anyway (and none of them are particularly embarrassing), thought I'd share:

8/26 - I was looking for my nightstand* on a planet that looked like Avatar* where we sometimes needed to wear masks. The girl I though might have the nightstand, her dad owned a moving/furniture company. After I asked her where it might be, there was an image of her dad saying "no" (they didn't have it) and in the background was a garage full of only large pieces of wood furniture. Then my friend told him that yes, they probably had it, and he relented and the background changed to the garage full of large furniture surrounded by other small odds-and-ends, including my nightstand.

Then, I was walking down a hallway that looked like a cross between Baker Hall and my old middle school* and ran into two friends I met last year who are in Heinz. (One, we'll call him "Larry", I had just seen in real life the day before I dreamt this.) Larry went down one staircase, and "Barry" and I went down the other. Barry (who is blonde in real life) had this awful shaggy reddish mohawk and really unhealthy skin. Larry asked, as he walked down the other staircase, if Barry was doing ok, but Barry said he was doing worse. I asked what "worse" was as Barry and I walked down the stairs and he played it off like a joke, saying his life was "getting more gay" since now he was sharing a bed with Larry.*

When we got to the bottom of the steps, both of them left and I was called into a psychology class by a friend. Larry and Barry had been trying to convince me to go into a evolution* class. The class had a project that was due on Oct. or Nov., and someone in the class who was in H&SS asked if she could start looking for a job right now* because it would get crazy for her during that project in Oct./Nov. A smart aleck said that that would be tough for her, getting a job in her major*. The class was about five, racially-diverse people in a yellow-y lit classroom that looked like one of the long skinny classrooms in Baker*. All the chairs were jumbled and a homemade table-desk was in the room.

nightstand - I am trying to remember who I gave a wooden nightstand to to store last year.
Avatar - I watched Avatar the evening before I dreamt this.
middle school - my middle school was an old stone building, so pretty easy to merge the two buildings
friends in Heinz - I ran into one of them the day before I dreamt this.
gay - neither Larry nor Barry are gay in real life
evolution - I have been reading "The Red Queen: Sex and the Evolution of Human Nature"
looking for a job - I'm a senior, so clearly on my mind
Baker rooms - I think it is 230-something, on the side of the building close to the Mall.

(I had to write the previous one up for others to read in class. From this point on, I'll be faithfully to my early morning grammar and just give editor's notes.) 

8/27 (a)- I was in charge of a dorm with ~5 RAs. One was a redhead and lived by "no regrets." Another also had connections to ABTech, storage, and other clubs. Most people, except for the person on duty, were headed somewhere (party?).

(b) - Cruise ship, following a group around (I was a disembodied third-person for most of this dream). All women wearing thongs on bottom, leered at in bathrooms. Go to a giant performance hall with a pool as the stage. People get ready for "The Slippery Watermelon" but all of the actors decided to screw in up in some way. The 2 singers tart, 1 guy 1 woman in a gorgeous dress. The first people are just on stage, then a diver jumps in a one of the singers pulls out a wiggly watermelon patterned straw and phallically (that's right, I wrote phallically within five minutes of waking up) sticks it in front of the camera. Another person dumps a watermelon in that is different from the original one. Eventually, jumper jumps in but disappears. A few other actors screw it up, but then they all come together and trade their coats for chances at getting the watermelon. One had brandname "Whitesides", one had leather (one actor was woman from Myth Busters (Kari Byron; I had just watched a clip about her new show earlier)). Everyone ends up with dif. jackets and there isn't much of a crowd left, but at the same time, the whole ship loved it (the show). The show is going to be re-put on by "JHC", which are three girls' names (Julia?) and also is the Joy House Club, or something. I/someone looks them up on Facebook. The cut is them presenting their idea, with 1 singer, 2 divers.

8/28 - I was at a store like Staples working. We started by trying to print some fliers but we ran out of the right size of paper. (It was too small to get printed on?) We were also using notepad or some rtf (rich text format... again, I'm such a geek for writing these words within minutes of waking up) to print with. The documents had two sign-up forms and a contract on them. The in got busy and lost of people asked for art supplies. Someone asked for a guide ruler for a straight edge cutter. I didn't know where it was, but attempted to check someone out (male, I think) (as in check-out at a store, people... don't get your mind in the gutter), but the register wouldn't log in. I was also very bad at the register, and tried returning the stuff first. He had a bulky item, and an axe (which he told me he was buying) and a bag of foam paint brushes that didn't have price tags. (That's right, my sub-conscious self was more worried about paint brushes that a MAN buying an AXE!)

8/29 - First, a snowstorm locked me and some friends inside a log cabin (I've had this dream a couple times before.) (I remember waking up and thinking after having the dream that I've had this dream before, but I don't remember actually having it before. I remember while I was dreaming I knew I was dreaming that this specific dream had ended differently before, thus, I must have dreamt it before.) Then, it switched so the humans and some other mystical creatures were fighting against another group. I went out (well, first there was a ball with a gorgeous dress, but I couldn't find my contacts) with a group of humans to fight these humanoids (ogre-like)? We ran into two groups (one by a bridge) and fended them off with teamwork and axes. (Again with the axes! Also, I remember when writing this that I thought it was a very good line for a book.) Then we prepared for the large group with the leader. He came and we defeated him! Then there was an epic journey.

8/30 - I was taken to a "classroom" during school (actually improv practice in the evening) and we were basically locked up and led through rooms. It was a nightmare. (My first nightmare in my dream journal!) They allowed us to scrounge for clothing. (We were wearing clothing too, but I guess this was extra to pack along?) We got a "muzzle" ball put into our bags. (Maybe for shoving into mouths?) The facility was by Seattle Center. We were led outside and while crossing the street I managed to sneak behind a door/building and go to a highrise. Once there, I was getting repeated calls from a number as well as Jynn Jin. I called 911 on the old couples phone but my mom answered sobbing. I told her the facility was at (Highway) 101 and Devonshire. Then I realized I had called 911, not my mom and the line went dead. (To flesh out the previous part where I said "the old couple", this is how I found them:) I had been walking on the highrises balcony to find someone. The woman said "Are you a prankster or a ____?" (Something I couldn't remember.) They were very old. (Also, recalling other details:) In the facility, we had to watch this tranquil clip of Lindsy (misspelled, I know) Lohan by the ocean. The old couples condos had candles.

8/31 - I was a head RA and had to balance schedules. (Short and sweet... I pressed snooze a couple too many times, so didn't remember parts of my disjointed dreams, except for that)

Well, I hope you enjoyed that little dive into my subconscious. Feel free to interpret any and all dreams as you see fit.

Bang-a-rang!: My Start as a WHaBaM CA

One of my favorite Red Team cheers starts with a single person yelling "Bang-a-rang!" Those around respond with:

Bang-a-rang!
Ruffio! Red Team Go! Red Team Go-ooooh...Ooh-Oooooooh
Red Team Go!

It is one of my favorite because a simple word-phrase-nonsense can turn into a group uniting around a cheer. And because, as the catalyst, you get to say "bang-a-rang", and who wouldn't like yelling something like that?

After my week of CA (community advisor) training, I began working with my ten RAs in the four buildings of which I am in charge.

How did you become the CA of four buildings, Corinne?

Glad you asked. I was originally hired for three buildings: McGill (the 72-person all-women's building), Welch (the 56-person quiet-living building), and Henderson (the 60-person health-and-wellness building). After getting my list of RAs in the spring while I was in Qatar, I began e-mailing them to see how summer and spring training was going. I had a lot of enthusiasm, but only knew one of the six from working with her previously. The rest - strangers.

Then there were many long, complicated (but correct) rearrangements of the department of Student Life, which eventually led to me gaining another house (Boss House, a 72-person house focused on global studies, leadership, and civic engagement), another RA (Welch needed one), and an arrangement with two housefellows instead of one.

The addition of Boss House came out of a need for a system for cohesiveness on the Hill (where all of my buildings are, also known as the Red Team) and support for the RAs. The additional RA came because staff didn't know how many first-years we had coming in and thus how many RAs might be needed overall. The two housefellows came out of a need to supervise both upperclass and first-year buildings differently.

But back to my wonderful houses that make up WHaBaM (Welch, Henderson, and Boss and McGill).

Boss is a first-year building, and McGill has 40 first-years of its 72 women. One housefellow is focused on those two buildings.

Henderson has 19 first-years and 41 upperclass students. Welch is more skewed, with 11 of the 56 as first-years. One housefellow is focused on these two buildings, in addition to supervising the other upperclass and Greek housefellows.

So really, how did I get this position? Someone had enough faith in me to say, if anyone can do it, Corinne can. I'm not yet pulling my hair out, I only hide from my e-mails every so often, and I can recognize (probably an optimistic estimate of) 75% of the students living in my buildings.

Would you have signed up for this job originally? Are you crazy? Do you think I'm crazy?

Would you trade it in now? No way. There is no part of WHaBaM of which I don't enjoy being a part. I can easily spend two hours going through all 12 floors plus 4 ground floors of all the buildings, chatting with residents who recognize me (and I recognize them!)

I feel honored that Student Life was confident enough (or desperate enough) to give me four buildings. I get to have at least nine meetings a week to work with this job, talk with my RAs, and get support from my housefellows.

I guess the reason I'm writing this post is to brag a bit. My RAs are great. My residents are great. And my year, if it continues in the direction we started it, should be great. I'm just hoping I can continue rising to the challenges of splitting my energy and time across so many divides and coming up with a satisfactory place for people to live and grow.

Bang-a-rang!

Bored in the 'Burgh? You Must Be Crazy: The Last Weeks of Summer

With CA training and my internship ending, I had a few crazy weeks there at the end of summer. By "crazy weeks", I mean I was working maybe 50 hours a week and socializing the rest of it. I like jobs that work like that.

Jim and I spent a day wandering up to Squirrel Hill and back, then ending up at the Vintage Grand Prix. Schenley was bustling with people looking at pretty cars and listening to the roaring of outdated engines. However, in true Pittsburgh style, the last lap of every race was spent waving to the drivers as they waved back.

Corinne (my summer roommate) and I (also named Corinne... cute, huh?) and Jim had a last hurrah going up the Duquesne Incline. Pittsburgh continues to make happy. Working downtown this summer gave me a better feel for a place I don't venture to very often, but overlooking the city, I really felt like I knew the place.


Of course, summer had to end, and CA ("Community Advisor", it's like a head RA) training started. We had a really awesome week of learning theories of community, presenting our own take on aspects of the CA role, and just in general bouncing ideas off each other, role-playing, and making grand plans for the school year. It is a group of leaders I'm proud to know now.

The Life-Long Learning: Corinne's Guide to Two Pittsburgh Museums

Schmalex came into town last weekend. Yay! She picked me up from the boonies (pool party in the country, anyone?) then we had a fabulous time with the Rosie and the Frank. And a surprise birthday. Well, "surprise." Made me wish for those fall days when life will be back to the academic rigamarole around here, and I will not be bored at 11:30pm.

On Sunday, Alex and I decided to visit a new part of Pittsburgh... Edgewood and Frick Park! Gasp!

And really, I never knew where the 61B went... now I do.

So the Square Cafe was delicious and all, and we had some pretty creative pancakes and such. Then, walked it off in the nearby acres of woods.

As afternoon time rolled about, we headed to the Frick Museum with pretty low expectations. Maybe it was because I'd only ever heard it called the "Carriage and Automobile Museum."


Thanks to an iPhone, we made it to the correct spot, and walked into a giant, stone... museum. The Frick really can't be explained any other way.


We were immediately greeted and talked through the grounds. The Frick has an art museum (which we were in), a car and carriage museum, a giftshop that used to be the Frick's playhouse, a greenhouse, and "Clayton" (the mansion of Henry Clay Frick).


Here's a mini history lesson: Frick saw that baked coal made coke, useful for steel. Carnegie saw the Frick had a lot of these coal-baking ovens. They became partners. Sometime later there were riots. Carnegie went back home to Scotland. Frick had to deal with it and used violent measures. Frick then hated Carnegie; Carnegie then hates Frick. Carnegie won't let Frick into his gentlemen's club. Frick builds his own building with a club on the 20th floor (it's called the Frick Building, on Grant between Forbes and Fifth... It's where I'm working this summer!) They get old. Carnegie writes to Frick: I'm sorry, we're old, let's forget about this. Frick writes back: I'll see you in hell. The end.


So, learned a little something? I only learned part of that during our tour of Clayton (just the coal-to-coke business). The rest my mentor told me at Carnegie Learning, where my internship is this summer.


Well, during our four-hour stay on the grounds of the Frick, I learned more little tidbits that I knew what to do with. The evolution of the word "sublime" (from "fearsome" to "awe-inspiring" to "awesome")? Check. The fact that Victorians would never take naps in their beds? Check. Franklin Roosevelt and Eleanor Roosevelt were cousins, and pronounced their last names differently (Rooo-sevelt and Rose-evelt)? Check. The first drive-in gas station? On Baum Boulevard (in Pittsburgh). The bicycle being a big break for woman's independence? Check.


Every single person we encountered that day wanted to share something. They treasured their job, the history, and the stories. Even the two tour guides were swapping tales after the tour was finished.


Now I get to talk about that cliche, "life-long learning." I mean, even the theory of evolution will tell you that if we stop, we die. I'm reading a book called "The Red Queen: Sex and the Evolution of Human Nature." Even those of you who dislike or don't believe in the idea of evolution can understand the metaphor of the Red Queen in "Alice in Wonderland." She must keep running just to keep up with the world; if she slows down, she falls behind.


As it is with learning. We've all met those people who have decided to get off the treadmill. Some refuse to get off. (My grandpa bought himself an Android for Christmas. While he doesn't know his own phone number, he can chose a place for dinner lickety-split.)


So the Frick Museum was a success. But that was Sunday! It's Tuesday now.


Today I volunteered to tend a gallery at the Mattress Factory, an installation art museum and catalyst for artists like Mark Garry (who was talking). While the tending of the gallery was a bit dull (only three people visited my floor), the whole event was smoothly run: an enjoyable evening, even for us volunteers.


Places like that just make me savor Pittsburgh all the more. Yes, rain is predicted this whole week. Yes, the humidity is a bit hit, as is the temperature. But, yes, Pittsburgh knows its art and history!


Helps a lot while I'm jogging along on that treadmill of learning.

The "Sunshine" State: Fourth of July with the Family

I work for a very wonderful company called Carnegie Learning that makes math software. Wonderful for many reasons, including that they gave us both Friday and Monday off for the Fourth of July.
 
So, thanks to my little sister getting bumped off a plane a month ago, I got a free ticket down to see my parents and two little sisters in Florida, where they were having a two-week vacation.


So I get down there late on Thursday, and Monday morning we are off to Sea World! They have a whole bunch of shows that we really enjoyed (jumping dolphins/whales/sea lions, anyone?) as well as a pretty sweet roller coaster (the Manta!) as well as a sea creature carousel as well as fireworks to finish off the evening. But the best show of the day was far and away the spoof show.

We had done the obligatory Shamu show and a dolphin show called "Believe" (yes, it was that hokie) and even a pet show, where dogs, cats, rats, skunks, and pigs had their day.

After all of these, we went to see "Sea Lions Tonight." The two sea lions (and a fat, ugly walrus) mocked all of the other shows, along with their trainers. And these shows were pretty darn easy to mock. (Really? "Venture beyond the horizon where dolphins, birds and spirited performers meet"? Cheesy.)

The next day was spent at Universal Studios Islands of Adventure, where, if you have been buried under a rock for the past few months, the new "Wizarding World of Harry Potter" opened not too long ago.

It was pretty sweet how immersed you feel in the experience. Walking through Hogsmead, the roofs had "snow" on them... and somehow you felt cooler! We did the dizzying Harry Potter virtual adventure ride, then took a break and did some water rides in Jurassic Park.


It's good we did them then, because that was the last I saw of the sun for the rest of the trip. The skies opened up about two o'clock and didn't shut until... well, after Sunday at least.

We stopped at Toon Town to gawk at Betty Boop, then on to Seussville to meet the Grinch and other characters. (I was read "Oh, The Places You'll Go" after freshman year of high school, and that and the Sneeches are my two favorite Dr. Seuss books.)


Dinner in the Hogshead, with a bit of butterbeer beforehand, and we were done (and damp).


My final day was spent in the condo (which we had arrived late at the night before). The rain came down and out came the games. A grocery shopping trip revived us, and we got up enough momentum to go see the Flying Tigers.

That's right, the Great American Past-time of baseball. Greasy food, ice cream, and a roof for when it rained through the entire fireworks show. What more can you ask for? Oh, getting to see my family. That's in that list too.

Roughing It: What Happens Outside of Pittsburgh

I'm going to do something along the lines of combining two posts into one, since I didn't blog my adventure last week.

Well, on Tuesday, I traveled out to the mysterious boondocks of West Newton with some friends. Some friends who happen to be gun enthusiasts. (Did I ever tell you about that time that Khaled and I had a great long conversation about how dangerous America was because we had all these guns and Qatar doesn't?)

Anyway, we spent a good hour or so shooting guns. I got to shoot two different rifles, and like half a dozen pistols. Including one that belched fire!

Well, that weekend (this last weekend), I joined those guys and about ten other people headed to the Finger Lakes for some camping and wine tasting.

Yeah, a bit of a juxtaposition, waking up outside, not showering, then trying to be all high class and drinking wine and such... but it was awesome.


We had a fire, and greasy bacon, and delicious breakfasts, and a little hike to the lake. A friend of a friend is from somewhere with really cold water, so when he tested the lake, he decided to take off some clothes and hop in...


Well, the water was really warm!


But now I'm back to being a "city" girl again. Which means eating at cute little health food joints and walking to the library.


Speaking of books and libraries, I can't help but give a shout-out to the latest book I just finished. It was "The Ghost Map", by Steven Johnson, and was a fascinating look at the way that cholera spread in London in the 1850s. But, more than that, it was a full look into the effects of urbanization. For example, urban centers have a much lower birthrate than rural areas. And a lot of people are moving to urban centers. (He was describing how eco-friendly they were, compared to how many people are there.) But his thought was that in 2050, when there is an estimate of 80% of the population living in urban areas and the population being at 8 billion... that is when our population will start to go down. Fascinating.


Did I mention that he also predicted H1N1? Yeah, check out the book.

363: Recollecting the Semester Abroad Blog

As many of you might know from my Facebook update, I recently printed out 363 pictures from my months abroad.

And since I am the math fiend I am, I'm going to do some statistics about my semester abroad.


My blog during the semester had 459 pictures on it. There were 172 posts spanning from November 18, 2009 through May 28th, 2010. There were posts daily from December 29 to that May 28. That's just shy of five months. (I mean, it's nothing compared to my sister who has written in her journal daily since, like, 6th grade. And I'm not even exaggerating that much. And she's out of college now. She has been journalling daily for, like, nearly half her life.)

Anyway, I wanted to do a word count analysis, but Google Analytics had this to share. It's a pdf of all of the site visits, where they come from (mostly the US, but Qatar is in second!), and how many from Dec. to May.  (That's right, over 2,420 visits. 2,421 to be exact.) 

My most popular posts were Don't You Wish You Had A Dial, or Day 21, I'd Like to Buy That, or Day 12, and Keep Away, or Day 88. Now, why those posts had more views, I can only venture some guesses (the first referenced a Kuwaiti politician and a new restaurant people want reviews on, the second and third I think I put a links to on Facebook).


Search terms was another interesting one that Analytics put in a different report. Now, who in the world searched "corriene's semester abroad" 6 times and kept finding me? I guess the good news is that "corrine's semester abroad" (7) eventually got them to me.


Now, what am I going to do with all this data? Well, for the most part, I think it is interesting, but that's all it is going to do, is be interesting.


For some of my blogposts, however, some of the memorable and well-written days, they will be printed out and put in a scrapbook. That's were the 363 pictures come into play.


If you want to see some of the pictures I chose, you can go to my album. They aren't all there... so I guess sometime after this summer is over, you can ask to see my scrapbook to see them.


By the way, anyone seen a small herd of large white envelopes? It appears that my best laid plan of sending papers home through inter-campus mail (yes, it works campus-to-campus too!) might have been thwarted by mail forwarding from Pittsburgh back to Doha. They are currently... in the ether.

Go Research!: Back in the Burgh

I am working with an organization over the summer called the Pittsburgh Science of Learning Center. I'm downtown, at the historic Frick Building, working with Carnegie Learning on doing studies with their math-learning software.

And I'm back in the same dorm I was during freshman and sophomore year. And I'm pretty sure the rooms got smaller.

It's been a good first week back here, with some rain, some sun, some friends, some art... the Three Rivers Art Festival is going on, and I've seen a few exhibits in my time downtown.

So, a good start to the summer. Been busy and doesn't look like it is going to slow down anytime soon. Which is how I love it.

Guilty!: Jury Duty

I spent two of my precious days at home doing jury duty. They drew me about two years ago, however, each time I returned the card saying that I was away at school. This time, they denied the request and told me to report on July 21st. Or else.

Well, since I'm currently in Pittsburgh, that didn't quite work for me. So my parents kindly called, explaining the situation, and they said for me to report on Tuesday, the first day of the work week (since Monday was Memorial Day).

So I go in on Tuesday, and I'm called in the group heading over to the municipal court next door (instead of the county court).

Well, the trial, with its six witnesses (yeah, it was an actual criminal trial with all the trimmings), lasted all of Tuesday, and we finally went into deliberations Wednesday at about 3:30pm.

The defendant had been arrested for reckless driving and 4th degree assault (meaning that he didn't necessarily injure the guy, but he "intentionally touched with intent to harm or offend"). All of the stories basically lined up. A crashed car because he couldn't make a corner? Yup, guilty of reckless driving. Even if he might have been provoked, he had a choice to pull over.

And the assault? The victim of the assault had had a cellphone kicked out of his hand, with the foot possibly continuing up to kick his forehead too. Well, one juror wasn't sure that a kick that might have been aimed for the cellphone and happened to kick his hand was an "intentional touching" of his body. I mean, the defendant could have accidentally hit his hand... according to her.

The rest of us didn't have the same feeling, but it turned into a hung jury.

If you want more details of the whole situation (that involved racial tensions, a BMW, and a Risk game), strike up a conversation sometime. But that was my civic duty, so I can remain a citizen of Washington State. And with no income tax, who wouldn't?

Sing to the Lord: Going to Church

I went to church today for the first time in quite a few months, and I was lucky enough to come on the Sunday where my pastor decided the congregation could choose all the songs.

So we flipped through the hymnal, wrote down our choices, and passed them forward.

Throughout the service, we probably sang a verse of over thirty different hymns. All of which I love. Singing with a chorus of other people (such as my dad, with his deep-throated harmonies, and even my slightly tone-deaf little sister with plenty of verve) is one of the things I missed about church.

Wahid: My First Blog Post

Wahid means "one" in Arabic. You know, that language that I spent a semester around but never quite learned?

Anyway, guess I should start this blog with a post, so people coming to the link don't get confused.

I have no plans on updating this blog daily, and I'm not sure, with me at a summer job then at school, that you would really want to hear about the daily grind.

But, I'm hoping there will be a few memorable moments to put down in here, as well as some things that spark my interest. Less biographical, more... something else.

Starting today, this blog will be like Frankenstein's monster: "It's alive!"