That's Me

Remember the author of this blog who predicted that she might fall off the face of the blogosphere once her grad school classes picked up?  Yes, that's me.  Well, I'm still alive, just not so much on the blog network these days.. but I really am going to work on it.

By way of a very quick update, school is going well - it's been time-consuming and challenging at times, but getting over the hump of midterms felt like a bit of a turning point for me.  My concentration in this international affairs program is human rights, and I've really enjoyed what I've learned so far this semester about international human rights law.  I'm also getting involved with a few things outside of class, including a project on Sudan that I hope to help out with through an online magazine called HELO Magazine.  I also just edited an online feature interview for my school's Journal of International Affairs that you can read (or at least scroll down and see my name at the bottom of the page) here.

In other news, with weeks to go before Thanksgiving, it's already beginning to look like Christmas here - Macy's is decked out to the nines, stores are selling holiday M&Ms and Hanukkah candles, and I discovered last night that the Rockefeller Christmas tree is in. the. house!  More to come on that later!

Quote of the Day

"It'll really be helpful if you go home now 

and try to explain this stuff to your cat."

- My math professor after a lengthy 

lecture regarding non-linear functions

And it's a...

... BEAKER!!

My sister, Heather, and her husband, Jesse, are having a baby, and we just found out it's a boy!!  I've been referring to him affectionately as "Baby Beaker" (their last name is Hornbeak, and I've always held a special place in my heart for this reticent lab assistant on the Muppets.)

I just hope that our new baby Beaker sings as well as this hapless fellow :)

You Would.

One thing in particular about this city that I find interesting is to read the "graffiti" that people write up on the side of buildings, doors, staircases.. wherever.  Yesterday I happened across one that read kind of like a dialogue, where apparently one guy was trying to be philosophical and then someone else came along and actually responded:

"Would you like to be reborn in a petri dish?"

"No, but thanks."

I also kept seeing this phrase, "You would," scrawled in several locations around the West Village.  For some reason, as I walked around alone and read these words aloud in my head they made me chuckle a little.

In other news, I found this application on my phone that does retro camera shots and I've been trying it out.  Kinda cool, huh?

A Quick Poll

Also, on this computer in the lab I noticed that for some reason the header is not appearing.  It should be a shot of one of those binocular contraptions with the Empire State Building in the background and the words "this is the first day of my life."

Can YOU see it on your computer?

Camp Mathematics

So I've had orientation for school all this week, which has been intense, to say the least.  Each morning we have multiple hours of "math camp."  Yes, it is as terrible as it sounds.

Everything has been really packed.  I've also moved into a new apartment (well, my stuff is all in there, though not unpacked), and my new place doesn't have internet, so that will probably delay posts on here.  More to come later...

But wait! 
A couple fun finds of the day: my roommate just found a microwave on the side of the street!  And I got a free mattress set this week, and it's really nice! 
A rather unpleasant find: a mouse in my bedroom, which I eventually captured and released after a little shrieking and a lot of resolve.

Backstreet's Back?

And the free Craigslist find of the day is... the Backstreet Boys!!?

Man, if it was only 2001.