One Year Later

It has been almost one year since I've written in this blog. In many cases, one year means nothing. Even for people, one year is often not long enough to change a person much once they get past the age of 10. But this year meant a lot to me.

This last year has been the most influential year of my life. I look back at myself 12 months ago, and see a distinctly different person with a different way of approaching life. Many things happened this year that changed me significantly. I...

Took on a research project, and got fired.
Fell in love.
Had my heart broken.
Spent more time skiing in Whistler than in school.
Dropped my physics major.
Helped write a website, Geozette that I'd been dreaming of doing for a while.
Got an internship at Google.
Won a prestigious national scholarship, and had my name plastered over the University of Washington.
Taught an introductory Computer Science class for two quarters.
Went to places like Colorado, and New York on my own.
Slept in cars, houses that were not mine, and hospital rooms.
Lost my father.

Somehow, many of the experiences that people often consider significantly impacted their lives happened all at once for me. Suddenly I became very aware of the different worlds people live in, and the many hardships they experience. Things that seemed very important to me before (mostly grades, and taking many classes) didn't seem to matter any more. I became much more patient, and much less shy. I learned that in this world there are some things we cannot change, and we need to accept that. Most importantly though, I learned about the importance of friendship. A lonely person is not a happy person, regardless of how much fame and success they have. There is no better feeling in the world than to feel loved and cared for.

I hope that in the past year I have been a good friend. And I hope that I will stay a good friend until I die. That would make me happiest.

On Parents and Potential

So much depends on two people in rocking chairs on the front porch.

Yo Yo Ma was a cultivated cellist; a prodigy to be sure, but the inevitable product of his musical parents' efforts and their persistent attention. At 4, he would not be able to force himself to memorize two measures of bach a day without outside influence. No genius could do that. Each day his parents would probably remind, perhaps even force Yo Yo to practice the violin or cello or piano. He got better, and his talent and passion made him excellent, even prodigious. Now he is the best cellist in the world.

Sally could have been a champion runner. As a child, she beat all the boys in all the races at recess. She loved running, especially short distance. She was a little scared of running long distances, though. They took forever, and made her sides hurt. Her parents liked to sit on rocking chairs. Once, she went up to the front porch and asked her parents if she could join a track team. "Sure!" they said "why don't you find a team, and we'll sign you up." Of course, Sally never found the track team. At seven, she was too shy, too young, and had to much to do. Who could blame her? Sally continued to run for a while, but nobody really cared. A few people mentioned she'd be great for track, but it didn't matter. Those two people that mattered most, her parents, never really noticed. They were too busy with their own plans for Sally. They thought she'd make a good pianist, a good philosopher, maybe even good at rocking on chairs like they did, but not a good runner. They were too busy worrying about her health to see how much she liked running. They were too lazy to get out of their chairs to help. So Sally grew up and became just another person rocking on her chair, like her parents were. She never became the great runner she could be.

Sometimes I feel a little bit like Sally. But then I remind myself that if I really like something, I should do it regardless of how little my parents care about it. That's why I learned 5 clubs, and why I'm now learning 7 balls.

Won't Be Posting for a While

So, I won't be posting for a while, because I am in Rome, and thus most of my thoughts are associated with Rome. Check my Rome blog out at http://jugglinginrome.blogspot.com

Organization Freaks

Why do some people like to be organized so often?

Humans like to cluster things together. We are constantly doing this in our minds. We can see this in how we classify people, or even in how we remember things (when you type a phone number, you cluster it into several special sections like country code, area code, and actual phone number). Organizing is just another way of clustering stuff, really.

When we have a messy room, or messy code, all the elements in our object are mixed into one big mess. Organizing allows us to re-catagorize this mess, and break it up into smaller, more manageable parts. It allows us to re-cluster our environment.

Why do some people organize more often? I think this has to do with how we think. Perhaps people who really like organizing tend to cluster objects more. Or, perhaps they get anxious when things are not clustered because they are generally nervous. It's also possible that some people like to be efficient, and clustering allows us to access information faster. But what it all boils down to really is clustering. Almost all people prefer a clustered, categorized world; they like being organized. The question is whether they like it so much that they're willing to go through the effort of organizing.

Uninformed News

(Above: Ethiopia, in case you were wondering)

I have a few words to say about how we read news.

Today I read that some negotiation of some sort was being settled in Ethiopia. The reason I don't remember what exactly was going on was because I didn't finish the article. Half way through my reading, I realized that I didn't know where Ethiopia was. I quickly went on wiki and found out, and that got me thinking...

How often do we know where our news is coming from? We know what is happening, but often have no idea where this is happening. This is especially prevalent in America, where citizens are rarely taught about the geography of anywhere but New York and Disneyland. Why is this important? Well, when people have a concrete idea of the physical location of an event, this makes this event seem more realistic, and has a much stronger impact on a person. The more familiar one is with a location, the more important the news is for this person. You care a lot more about bomb attacks in your hometown than those in some fictional land called Lebanon. Letting people be aware of where news is from makes it more real, making people care about it more.

I have an idea for how someone might let people become more aware of where there news is from: you could write a program/service that takes news from some source, and then places thumbnails of this news in the country/city where this event is taking place. Basically, you'd have a map with a bunch of news thumbnails and headlines, which you could then click on and then read.

If designed well, this program would give people the where of news. It would provide a new way of reading news by location, while educating the user not only on global events, but also a bit on geography as well. Plus, it'd be kind of cool. So yeah, if somebody did/has done this, it'd be pretty awesome.

Why So Few Posts?

If you read this, you might be wondering why I haven't been posting much. That's because almost all of my posts have been in my Rome blog! These are thoughts mostly geared towards my getting ready for Rome, but still there's some cool stuff in there. Check it out here:
http://jugglinginrome.blogspot.com

I was juggling in the park today, and this guy asked me why I juggled. I couldn't think of anything except a cursory "Oh, it's just a hobby", but I thought of something better: it keeps me from watching TV. What I mean is, juggling is a way for me to relax, like TV is for most, only juggling could potentially earn me a pretty penny when I'm in trouble, but watching TV won't.

Google Open House

Yesterday I went to a Google Open House/Recruiting event. It was refreshing. I must say, I enjoyed having "empty" conversations with incredibly intelligent employees at Google for the sake of mingling. Because, the purpose of this event was not to have a deep conversation or build friendships, but rather to get your face known around Google. Since I was one of 3 girls in a room of about 60, I had an unfair advantage over the guys here. We had three talks, two about google maps, na done about Google analytics. Google analytics sounds like a fascinating service which I hope to put on this very site in the near future. Afterward, we mingled some more and ate more unappetising appetizers (the desserts, however, were phenomenal. You can't go wrong with lemon tarts and small chocolate glazed cakes), and it was time for the raffle. Some guys won google memorabilia, and two won Nintendo DS lights, and then the party was over. People kept milling around for a while, but eventually the party died down and I left with a nice little goodie back complete with Google pen, notepad, and shirt.

This was the first time I realized the power and purpose of talking about things you probably won't remember past the next day. Because you might not remember what you talked about, but you will remember who you talked with. And that's just as important.

Music

I have a few words to say about music:
It's amazing how small fluctuations in air pressure can move a person to tears. Or cause their heart to skip a beat as a tune pauses for a half second longer before plunging on. Music is a wonderful way to relax. It refreshes your head: a sauna of the mind. It can influence and enhance your writing and thoughts (I'm currently listening to the soulful, eccentric music of Kenna), and provides a nice buffer for when there's nothing to talk about. Sometimes, however, music can be harmful. When you're trying to program, do math, or trying to accomplish a very complex task, music can be very distracting. Your mind splits between the music and the task, and you don't accomplish what you wanted to do, nor do justice to the music. It amazes me how often people listen to music when they are doing complex tasks. I wonder how much they lose by listening to music. Perhaps they lose hours and hours of work. Or, maybe they lose nothing. It depends on if their minds are similar to mine.

Gum and Rain

I saw this quote on my pack of Dentyne gum today:

"Tall people may be taller, but the rain also hits them first"

I really don't understand why this quote is supposed to be inspirational, because even though the rain may hit the taller person first, it still hits the shorter person! In the end, both people are equally wet. Plus, the rain hits the taller person maybe a few milliseconds before the shorter person, which in human time really isn't a noticeable amount.

I wish Dentyne would put something more inspirational on their gum wrappers, like

"Every artist was once an amateur"(Emerson), or

"The power of imagination makes us infinite"(Muir).

Answer to Opposites

The two pictures I posted below represented youth and old age. And that's it.

Good Music

Listen to Kenna. His story is a good one. He rose to stardom within the music world; anyone who knew anything about music loved him. The only problem was that the general public didn't like him. For some reason, his music wasn't Britney Spears or Linkin Park enough to succeed. Listen to his music and try to find out. I personally think it might be because his music is difficult to classify: it's almost too quirky for most people to like. It doesn't quite appeal to the hip-hoppers, the rockers, or the alternative people. It's my kind of music, it doesn't really fit in anywhere. Maybe that's why I like it.

Opposites

I took these photos at the barbecue at my friends beach house on the 4th of July. Can you guess why I think these two pictures are opposites? I'll give you a hint: each one represents how I view something.

Toy Soldiers

It seems like so many of our legends and myths come
from really insightful observations about daily life.
And we keep making these same observations over and over.
Look! It's the modern day Sisyphus!

Step by step, heart to heart, left right left
We all fall down like toy soldiers
Bit by bit, torn apart, we never win
But the battle wages on for toy soldiers
~Eminem (Toy Soldiers)

Why Programming Can Be Addictive

Unlike many professional activities, programming often offers an immediate reward. For instance, you can spend a day writing a program and immediately have a tangible result as a testimony of your accomplishment. Not only does programming allow for creativity in what you make, but it also let's you choose how you accomplish what you want. Unlike many jobs, you often aren't restricted by some rigorous procedure of solving a problem, which most people find boring. And even the horrible moments of programming (debugging, understanding code, setting up computers and the like) actually add to the allure of programming, because these terrible moments make your accomplishments that much more important. In programming, you are given the freedom to approach a problem however you like, take on the challenges, and come out victorious (if you persist enough, that is). It is an immediate and very tangible form of goal-challenge-reward that so many of us enjoy. That's why programming is so addictive.

Sleeping in Seattle

I decided to read on the floor today instead of in my usual chair for a change. The book I was reading was interesting, but at times the technical jargon overwhelmed me and I felt myself slowing down and getting a bit sleepy. If I had known what tragedy awaited me on that carpet, I never would have laid down.

I had gotten to a particularly dreary portion of my book, when suddenly the sun came out, and began shining its warm, soothing rays onto my head. As I began slowing down, reading every other word, the sun would fill in my lapses with its soothing lullaby. I began thinking more of sleep and less about my book until the sun finally spoke to me, saying, "It's okay to take a nap, just a little daze, that's all. Naps are healthy! They rejuvinate your body and your mind." I must say, the suns testimonial was quite convincing, so I put my arms down and slowly drifted into sleep...

Apparently I napped for quite a while, because my mom managed not only to spot me, but to take her camera out and snap several pictures of me, without my even noticing!
I finally heard the camera's clicking, and slowly opened my eyes, to see what was up. But, the damage was already done. The photos were taken, and I could do nothing but take the photos with good humor. So I smiled and let my mom take one last picture. The End.

Socks!

You have a certain number of socks in your drawer. But, because you have no sense of style, the only colors your socks come in are red and black. If you draw two socks at random (without replacing them into the drawer...that'd just be silly) the probability of you getting two red socks is 1/2. What is the minimum number of socks you need for this to be true? For a harder version, what is the minimum number of socks you need for this to be true AND for there to be an even number of black socks?

A Puzzle

I was going to write about African child laborors working in copper mines, but instead I'll give you a puzzle.
I found it from a search on the word "google puzzle"

"Using the numbers 3, 3, 8, 8 (in any order), make a mathematical expression that equals 24. You can use only addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division (and parentheses), but in any order you wish. Note that you have to use all four numbers; otherwise 3 times 8 would be valid -- and that wouldn't be much of a puzzle, would it?"

There's also a nice solution where you can use any mathematical operators you know (and have been proven beyond a doubt).

A Puzzle

I was going to write about African child laborors working in copper mines, but instead I'll give you a puzzle.
I found it from a search on the word "google puzzle"

"Using the numbers 3, 3, 8, 8 (in any order), make a mathematical expression that equals 24. You can use only addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division (and parentheses), but in any order you wish. Note that you have to use all four numbers; otherwise 3 times 8 would be valid -- and that wouldn't be much of a puzzle, would it?"

There's also a nice solution where you can use any mathematical operators you know (and have been proven beyond a doubt).

Death of Zarqawi

Three Women and a Child Dead With Zarqawi
On Thursday CNN asked Americans what they thought about Zarqawis death. It seems like most people are happy, they are almost rejoicing now that this evil person is dead. But I don't think it was right to kill Zarqawi. Detain him, maybe, but not kill him. It doesn't seem like violence is the solution here. Revenge begets revenge, and this will only make Zarqawi's followers hate us more.

We couldn't even kill just Zarqawi. We had to kill a girl and three women along with him. We couldn't even do a clean job.

But that's beside my point. My point is that killing Zarqawi probably wasn't the best option we had given our information (his location, and presumably the means to get there). We're probably just fueling the conflict, not abating it.

How Ironic...

In case you can't read it, the top says "basic equations." I snapped that photo a few weeks back on my way to school. I was trying to make sense of Schrodinger's equations for a test I had that day, I believe.