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Tuesday, February 01, 2005
MATH..
So, one thing I'm really looking forward to when I get to be an "Old" is taking naps on a daily basis. Ever since I was young, I've always hated going to bed (too much to do, too much to see, etc), but I really have an appreciation for Recreational Sleeping, as a hobby. I really hope I'm able (soon) to transition into that old guy mode of getting up before the sun, taking a nap at mid-day, and going to bed around 10 or 11.
I am no longer of the opinion that much coolness occurs after about midnight. I've seen enough 12-3 a.m. periods lately to know that it's pretty much just me doing regression analysis, and maybe a criminal or two out on the streets somewhere. The only way it could be interesting is if I were to assume an alter-ego - like Batman or, preferably, someone cooler, like Punisher - and patrol the darkness, fighting crime.
************************
Oh. Also. About the PhD program. No...I still don't know what's up. Today I had a phone interview with members of the professor's research lab. 4 of them! On speaker phone! And they drilled me with stuff like "what can I contribute to the research lab," "where do I see myself in 10 years," as well as specifics about my technical skills. Call me crazy, but that seems a little over-the-top. I mean, c'mon, what's next, a teleconference with the building custodians about my knowledge of Detrended Correspondence Analysis...?!?
As a joke, if they offer me the position, I should tell them that I'll have to think it over, and insist they have an interview with Jenn, and some of my friends, and things.
Toward the end of the interview, they asked me to describe my personality in a few words or phrases. I offered, simply: "eclectic." That made them laugh.
Really, how else can one summarize the personality of a person who appreciates Carl Perkins AND Moby AND Mel Torme AND The Clash AND Franz Ferdinand? Someone who knows all the lyrics to every song off half of The Smiths' albums, and also knows how to gut, skin, and butcher large game animals, can program in Visual Basic, and reads Kafka. Someone who thinks rock-climbing is the outdoor sports equivalent of masturbation, who can identify every local conifer (with Latin name), drinks George Dickel's #12 on the rocks, enjoys board games, owns 4 guns, and is a model rocketry enthusiast....
If I'm out catfishing with someone, and I make a joke, the punchline of which involves Gil Scott-Heron (or Albert Camus, or "All Your Base"), I get really annoyed if that person doesn't laugh! No wonder I don't have any friends.
I mean, it's easy enough to find friends if you have dreadlocks, wear tie-dye, listen to Phish, own more than one hacky sack, and smoke weed. There are cookie cutter friends out there just waiting to accept you. Or if you're one of any number of other "people genres," such as "sideways cap 50 Cent listening white-sneakered white guy," or "obscurantist rock music enthusiast guy," or "XXXXXL-size sweatpant-wearing NASCAR fan."
I believe I might be the only person on the face of the earth that can name a half-dozen bands that appeared on eMpTy Records from 1993-1997, knows the difference between a Zara Spook and a Chug Bug, has seen Casablanca 3 times, understands the assumptions inherent in logistic regression analysis, can list the books in the Hitchhiker's Guide series, in chronological order, and can calculate malt bills for a 5 gallon batch of imperial stout. If there's another person like that out there somewhere, I want to be friends with them. Please call.
I never set out to rant on topics about which nobody gives a damn. It just happens. I'd apologize, but it's my blog - you're lucky I'm not charging admission.
-m
So, one thing I'm really looking forward to when I get to be an "Old" is taking naps on a daily basis. Ever since I was young, I've always hated going to bed (too much to do, too much to see, etc), but I really have an appreciation for Recreational Sleeping, as a hobby. I really hope I'm able (soon) to transition into that old guy mode of getting up before the sun, taking a nap at mid-day, and going to bed around 10 or 11.
I am no longer of the opinion that much coolness occurs after about midnight. I've seen enough 12-3 a.m. periods lately to know that it's pretty much just me doing regression analysis, and maybe a criminal or two out on the streets somewhere. The only way it could be interesting is if I were to assume an alter-ego - like Batman or, preferably, someone cooler, like Punisher - and patrol the darkness, fighting crime.
Oh. Also. About the PhD program. No...I still don't know what's up. Today I had a phone interview with members of the professor's research lab. 4 of them! On speaker phone! And they drilled me with stuff like "what can I contribute to the research lab," "where do I see myself in 10 years," as well as specifics about my technical skills. Call me crazy, but that seems a little over-the-top. I mean, c'mon, what's next, a teleconference with the building custodians about my knowledge of Detrended Correspondence Analysis...?!?
As a joke, if they offer me the position, I should tell them that I'll have to think it over, and insist they have an interview with Jenn, and some of my friends, and things.
Toward the end of the interview, they asked me to describe my personality in a few words or phrases. I offered, simply: "eclectic." That made them laugh.
Really, how else can one summarize the personality of a person who appreciates Carl Perkins AND Moby AND Mel Torme AND The Clash AND Franz Ferdinand? Someone who knows all the lyrics to every song off half of The Smiths' albums, and also knows how to gut, skin, and butcher large game animals, can program in Visual Basic, and reads Kafka. Someone who thinks rock-climbing is the outdoor sports equivalent of masturbation, who can identify every local conifer (with Latin name), drinks George Dickel's #12 on the rocks, enjoys board games, owns 4 guns, and is a model rocketry enthusiast....
If I'm out catfishing with someone, and I make a joke, the punchline of which involves Gil Scott-Heron (or Albert Camus, or "All Your Base"), I get really annoyed if that person doesn't laugh! No wonder I don't have any friends.
I mean, it's easy enough to find friends if you have dreadlocks, wear tie-dye, listen to Phish, own more than one hacky sack, and smoke weed. There are cookie cutter friends out there just waiting to accept you. Or if you're one of any number of other "people genres," such as "sideways cap 50 Cent listening white-sneakered white guy," or "obscurantist rock music enthusiast guy," or "XXXXXL-size sweatpant-wearing NASCAR fan."
I believe I might be the only person on the face of the earth that can name a half-dozen bands that appeared on eMpTy Records from 1993-1997, knows the difference between a Zara Spook and a Chug Bug, has seen Casablanca 3 times, understands the assumptions inherent in logistic regression analysis, can list the books in the Hitchhiker's Guide series, in chronological order, and can calculate malt bills for a 5 gallon batch of imperial stout. If there's another person like that out there somewhere, I want to be friends with them. Please call.
I never set out to rant on topics about which nobody gives a damn. It just happens. I'd apologize, but it's my blog - you're lucky I'm not charging admission.
-m
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