Monthly Archive for March, 2005

Hey Erik, how was your spring break?

It was quite eventful, Erik. Let me give you the rundown.

Saturday: Go to rent car, only to learn that one can’t rent a car without a credit card. Call around, Kristy comes to save my butt. I owe her a very large favor. Nine hour drive. Minor car accident involving a 360 on the freeway in front of a police car in the snow. No damage to person or property. Narrowly avoid becoming Kristy’s worst enemy.

Sunday: Slept in while Niamh went to church. Mom called, and told me my grandfather passed away. Lost it for a bit, and then got myself together. There is a memorial service coming up this weekend. Niamh came back and I told her the news. Made chicken saag, a lentil dish and some fresh Naan for Giuseppina and Niamh. Still don’t have the Naan quite right (though it’s certainly good enough to eat.)

Monday: Late night at the library, quesadillas for dinner. Watched some movies.

Tuesday: Lunch with Nicole and Dustin at India Pavilion. Finished the movies. I don’t know why it’s so much fun to do errands and sit around in my pajamas with Niamh, but it totally is. And it goes by way too fast.

Wednesday: Nine hour drive back to Bloomington. Get mildly lost towards the end, and repeatedly call Josh for help.

Thursday: Do a moderate amount of work. Meeting with 502 group. Catch up on email, get myself organized.

Experiencing blindness

Friday: Up at 5am. Ride my bike to IU, and get on the shuttle to Indy. Sleep. Check in at airport takes about five minutes. Sleep for two hours while I wait for my flight. Fly to Pittsburg. Sleep on the plane. Catch shuttle to CMU, and watch the city go by. Hang out with Kate. Meet Kate’s friends. Do email while Kate is at class. Call CMU Jenn to see if she is around, but she has a meeting. Next time. Meet more of Kate’s friends. Dinner at “Fuel and Fuddle” in Oakand with Kate ‘n Friends. Mom and Dad arrive in Pittsburgh, back to the hotel to sleep.

Descending on Pittsburgh

Having a stroll with my sister

We are weird people

Saturday: New music rehearsal/master class thing in the morning. Lunch with Kate and Sarah and my parents at tasty grill place. Burger much too big to fit in mouth. Back to hotel. Nap. Wake up, back to Carnegie Mellon for Kate’s concert. Impressive music. Hear the world premiere of Kate’s Sonata No. 1 for Violin and Piano. It rules, massive applause, big smile on Kate’s and our faces. Back to Sarah’s parents’ house for a get together. Watching Wake Forest lose on T.V., hanging out with Kate’s friends. Talk to Sarah’s mom about teaching music. Back to the hotel to sleep.

Mom and Dad in the hotel

Kate at her premiere. Her entourage is reduced here to a blur, but it was quite impressive.

Sunday: Dad picks up Kate in the morning. Breakfast at Eat’n Park. Not bad. Drive to the airport, hang out with the fam. Fly to Chicago. Lean valuable facts during three hour layover: (1) the terminals in O’Hare are terribly noisy; the museum displays are a much more relaxing place to spend time. (2) there are reasonble, quiet places to eat if you look. Found a hot dog place tucked away in a corner and had a nice bratwurst with onions and hot peppers. (3) The description-complexity of a formal system can never increase or decrease. Flew back to Indy. Rode the shuttle back to Bloomington. Rode bike back home. Taked to Niamh on the phone. Obliterated my todo list. Ate a tasty quesadilla.

Speaking of making the quesadilla, I have a couple bags of various ground red peppers and paprika, none of which I am very certain what the are. Like a lamb that keeps coming back for the slaughter, I stick my nose in them every time and give a good sniff, causing what feels like a mild sunburn inside my nose for the rest of the evening.

Updated my blog.

Life barrels on like a runaway train.

This was a fairly non-productive weekend. I definately have cycles of productivity, and it seems especially after a productive week it is very hard to have a productive weekend. Right now, my brain knows that I have a lot of work coming up in March, so I am stressed out enough to be somewhere south of happy, but not stressed enough that I am actually compelled into action. Miserable local minima.

However, it has been a very social weekend. We entertained a prospective CS student on Friday, and Richie and Chantel made some stellar enchiladas and Spanish rice. You said you’d take care of it, Richie.

And last night we watched some movies at the farm, or the barn, or whatever the heck it is called. All of this activity has coincided with several days of near radio silence with Niamh. We keep calling, and not being able to talk much, and I really miss her a lot.

And on the household front: Josh and I totally scored on Friday when we took home the bulk of the leftovers from the pervasive computing open house. We made some fried rice and some chili, and the fridge still looks like a grocery store.

Tomorrow, Josh and Ben and I are going to be having a little hackfest/researchfest to try and jumpstart a project we’ve been talking about. It’s a pretty old school HCI topic having to do with mousing and feedback and whatnot. I’m pretty amped.