Sorry for this super long delay... much is going on and it's kind of hard to find time to just sit down and write it all out =)

Dang, 2 months since my last post? geez... i'm really bad at keeping up with this stuff. Besides, who reads this anyways?

School has definitely been quite interesting. I think going back to school after a one year hiatus has definitely changed my whole opinion and outlook of school. I no longer see it as the 'evil empire' of academia. I guess it has to do a lot with the fact that i'm really interested in what i'm learning now. How ironic that i'm saying these things, when i vowed to myself i would NEVER EVER say the things i'm saying now =) Being in school again is almost like starting over at cal, only now i'm in a different setting, but basically everything else is the same... you go to class, you do your hw, you go home, you sleep, you eat, you get fat... blah blah blah. But i think being in grad school, i've come to terms with exactly what i'm doing: i'm a really big dork studying the stuff that people wouldn't touch with a 80ft pole... or something like that. There's no denying it. Heck, i'm not even going to try. We're basically the dorks of the dorks (well, at least the grad school people). Well, let me put a this disclaimer up front: this isn't to belittle the friends i've made or downplay the "coolness" of the people i've met, but no matter how you push/pull/squeeze/"excessive finger" it, we're dorks. Plain and simple. Through-and-though. But with that aside, everyone i've met is really cool. Most everyone is down to earth, all kinda happy to be in grad school and not in the "working world"/unemployment line, and with a sense of "this is for me, not to make my stupid professor happy with these problem sets". People here really want to learn stuff. Overnighters in lab? No big deal.... if you take away the fact that we're in lab overnight. That we're not happy about. But the actualy work bit? It's okay, cuz it's to our benefit. That's the major difference i've noticed so far. Nobody gripes about the work we're doing. But that's not to say we don't gripe about the amount of work that needs to be done and the lack of time that we have to do it in. I think we as engineers gripe a lot. But in some ways, i think we're entitled to some.

That's another thing. So i'm going to Columbia university (i hope you have all figured that out by now), which is in New York City. But what exactly is New York City? What's the draw? Why are people so mesmerized by it? For me presonally, i'm struggling to understand why people hold this place on the pedestal of near glorification. Don't get me wrong. This is a great place. It's definitely different and quite a departure. But is this place better than home? Is the fact that this place have a name make it better than Smallvile USA or whatever? I dunno personally. I think every place has it's pluses and minuses. But for me? I'm too stankin' busy to know the difference if i was here or in some small-town university in the middle of nowhere. But i am trying to get out more. Trying to take advantage of what this place has to offer, to which it seems endless at times. Let me tell you, if you ever want to get fat in a hurry, this is by far a great place to do it. All one needs to do it have a nice fat wad of cash (preferably 20's or larger), start anywhere on broadway and start walking. Why? How will walking make you fat? Doesn't everyone say walking is exercise? Sure, unless you stop at every single place you see that sells food and pick something up. I kid you not. In the area i'm living in, I don't think you could make it more than a 2-3 blocks without having your tummy putting fat-bastard to shame. There are more places to eat here than i could have possibly imagined. It's like the food court at the mall, but that food mall stretches for miles on end. If you can dream of it, you can probably find someone who's selling it... granted, it comes at a price, but that's New York. Everything costs money. Heck, if you want people to be nice to you, that'll cost you money as well. Smiles are NOT free here. That was the part that took the most getting used to. But all in all? I would have to say it's been an interesting experience so far.

One of the things i regret the most from cal was not going out enough. I think spent too much time cooped up in my room, doing nothing except for checking everyone's away messages on aim and finding random things to occupy my time. But now i'm trying to do the things that i never really had a chance to do when i was at berkeley. I'm finding myself going out almost every weekend. I guess it goes with that age-old saying: study hard, party hard. I can safely say that the study part is down pat. I don't know how much more i can push myself during the week without totally running out of gas. But the weekends? That's when i try to do some "fun" stuff. I've been doing a lot more "sightseeing" than anything else. On any given night, i'll try to visit at least 2 different places. Sitting in one place all night long is no longer of that much interest. Clubs here aren't really clubs back at home. People are afraid to dance or something. And just about every venue is pitch black. But i guess it all depends on the people you go out with. So it's been fun every time we go out. It's always an adventure we go out. You never can quite prepare yourself for what will happens. The subway is always unpredictable, stopping at places you don't need, and skipping over the ones you do; watching drunk russians arguing with the counter people at a karaoke place that the place doesn't have russian songs. That was by far one of the more entertaining things i've seen here. That at the funky thing people wear here, all in the name of fashion... but that's a whole different bag of stuff i really don't want to touch =)

The point to this rambling? None. It's just me rambling....