2005: Year in Review

Taken from Jen Lee!!! (who is my most favorite internet person... both on flickr and blogs!)

1. What did you do in 2005 that you'd never done before?
Raced a bike. Graduated from college. Went to Chattanooga. Worked an 18 hour day.

2. Did you keep your New Year's resolutions, and will you make more for next year?

• finally finish my pilot's license - didn't happen
  
• get an internship - didn't happen either
  
• ride my bike a lot (get in shape) - sorta happened
  
• read my bible/pray more often - sorta happened
  
• be better about getting work done early - ?
  
• stretch at least once a day - sorta
  

My new ones will be similar and mostly health/athleticism associated, but they will have more measurable goals.

3. Did someone close to you give birth?
Nope!

4. Did anyone close to you die?
Nope!

5. What countries did you visit?
It was a slow year for the countries... sadly... does south Georgia count as another country? Cause it sure does feel like one sometimes...

6. What would you like to have in 2005 that you lacked in 2005?
Better friends.

7. What dates from 2005 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
July 26 - 2 year anniversary
December 17 - Graduation!

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
Graduating? Getting a decent grade in aeroelasticity, surviving NASA's ESAS fiasco, racing in a cycling race (ok, only one event, but that counts, right?)

9. What was your biggest failure?
hmm... my several meltdowns

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
It was the year of the illness... 6+ sinus infections, bronchitis twice, almost caught pneumonia, my first asthma attack, ear infection, getting sick from flu shot and the list goes on

11. What was the best thing you bought?
my ibook! helping will get his digital camera, aquarium passes for the whole family, kaya's dollhouse

12. Whose behavior merited celebration?
Will. He is my rock and my sunshine. And deserves to be acknowledged for insisting that I call him at 330 am when I am having a meltdown... and that he helps me with just about every tough situation that I have

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?
All those wonderful girls who turned out to be no different, the kid affectionately known as "biker-pussy" and mostly all politicians.

14. Where did most of your money go?
Eating out, gas, clothes... aquarium passes?

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
Spending New Year's with Will, travelling

16. What song will always remind you of 2005?
hmmm...

17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
i. happier or hardened? happier.
ii. thinner or fatter? fatter? thinner? who knows... :-p
iii. richer or poorer? poorer... til february, then richer!

18. What do you wish you'd done more of?
sleep, cycling

19. What do you wish you'd done less of?
stress, procrastinate, stay up late, fluids lab writing

20. How will you be spending Christmas?
family and friends

22. Did you fall in love in 2005?
My love keeps growing... pretty amazing!

24. What was your favorite TV program?
Gilmore Girls!!! The Daily Show and The Colbert Report

25. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year?
I wouldn't dignify them with hate, but thank you to all those females who taught me that women in engineering can be no different that your regular catty, two-faced, shallow high schoolers.

26. What was the best book you read?
Memoirs of a Geisha. Hands down.

27. What was your greatest musical discovery?
hmm... Lifehouse, Howie Day, Ludacris

28. What did you want and get?
The Friends 10 season collection, an awesome ring and a beautiful necklace. 3 great roomies!

29. What did you want and not get?
a bike rack for my car

30. Favorite film of this year?
Wedding Crashers

31. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
I turned 22 on March 13. That weekend was my first cycling race, and we went out to Mellow Mushroom with my closest friends. Then to ice cream. And actual birthday day was at home.

32. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
Less drama/disappointment.

33. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2005?
Old Navy rocks!

34. What kept you sane?
Will.

35. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
Lance Armstrong.

36. What political issue stirred you the most?
I have to pick just one? All the corruption.

37. Who do you miss?
At the moment? my friends that all have scattered for the break...

38. Who was the best new person you met?
Melissa! And re-meeting Heather

39. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2005:
To not let people walk all over me. To choose to be happy and not sweat the smaller things.

What is going on?!?

Ok, so I just found out another set of friends got engaged. That makes 6 couples that I know in the past few months... plus the 2 that actually got married.

Is something in the air?

Converted.

I am a convert.

Meet Snow White. Isn't she pretty?

Merry Christ-makuh

I can just see the smoke coming out of Bill O'Reilly's ears. Christ-makuh? Certainly that goes hand-in-hand with his whole War on Christmas.

But the thing is, my little 5 person family (6 during the holidays when my Grandmother visits) doesn't have the luxury of spending Christmas with our extended family. The few that we still communicate with couldn't afford to come up here, and we can't afford to all travel down there.

So, it has been a long custom of my family to open our doors to anyone on all the holidays. I think this stems from our culture. Always the more, the merrier. Over Thanksgiving our house is opened to whoever didn't get the chance to make the trip home. This year it was Lucas, Heather, Christy, and Ryan.

For the past several years we have celebrated Christmas with our neighbors across the street, the Wolffs. We have known them for many years and consider them to be the family we have chosen.

One thing... they're Jewish. And we're Catholic. That means we don't even really say a blessing or a prayer before we eat. Yeah, ok, so what? Some people don't even stop and pause between all the shopping and bad traffic to think about what Christmas means or even to just be a little kinder. What does it matter if you ignore all the details?

It matters to me, though, and I think that's why we actually capture the "Christmas" spirit with our half Jewish half Christian celebration. What better than to spend time with the family we've chosen and to appreciate diversity and learn a little while we're at it?

Plus, since Hanukah starts today, this year we had potato pancakes too. With ham (it helps that they're mostly 'culinary' Jews). :-)

How's the family?

Wednesday, after running around for a few days trying to catch up on stuff, I headed down to Columbus to visit Will at his parent's house. It took me 3 hours to get there, thanks to Atlanta traffic, but fortunately I was entertained most of the time with All Things Considered (up to the point where it started repeating, anyway).

It's an interesting situation. Will has spent countless hours with my family. He is so comfortable with them (and vice versa) that it's ok to leave him alone with them at graduation or talking with my dad while I run errands with my mom (weird, I know). Not so for me and his family. In almost 2.5 years (Jan 26!), I've been down there maybe 6 or 7 times.

They're definitely very nice, but they don't have that friends are family mentality that my family does... most likely because they are blessed to have plenty of family around (a luxury the Carneiro clan does not have). Then there was the stuff about his mom disapproving. He says it's because she doesn't like anyone.

This visit was definitely the best. Perhaps they're becoming accustomed to the idea of me... hey, I think it's about time! Doesn't hurt that I try to butter them up with wine every Christmas. But this time, they had gifts for me too... one for graduation and one for Christmas.

I enjoy spending time getting to know his family. His brother and sister (especially his sister) have really warmed up to me and this time I even met one member of his extended family, one of his aunts.

But mostly I love the visits because I get to spend lots of relaxing time with Will in his element... such as building bonfires for us and his sister's friends to roast marshmallows and hot dogs... and drink booze from Boo's later after his parents have gone to sleep.

There was one hiccup this visit, though. Will agreed to go shopping with me Thursday since I didn't have time to finish everything on Wednesday. His sister went along and we grabbed some lunch. After lunch, Liz and I were in Bath and Body Works while Will was getting something in Bed Bath and Beyond. As we were walking out, they run into someone they know. Then someone's mother. Then I caught on... hey, isn't that Will's ex-girlfriend's last name? To help me confirm, there comes ex-girlfriend herself and another member of her family.

So that was awkward. Even more so for Will since he hadn't seen any of them since they broke up in early 2003. All I have to say is I'm really glad I fixed my hair that day.

I know girls who refuse to leave their house looking like bums, ever... I think I now know why!

Gradumanated!!!

Everything turned out fine with aeroelasticity (in fact, I pulled my grade up a lot, which surprised even the Dicky) and this past Saturday I walked at Graduation.

I guess with the bachelor's degree becoming what a high school diploma once was, graduation isn't a big deal to a lot of people. But, for my family, it is the culmination of the move away from our home country and family in order to have access to better lives. I actually at one point almost became really emotional. I have reports that my dad didn't cry (he did at the high school one). Who knows, maybe when I get my masters?

There are certain things that I will never forget about the event: the look on Will's face, the mayor getting the year wrong (and the idiot kid next to me agreeing with her... shouldn't they not give you a degree if you can't even get the year straight?), the man horribly butchering my name, crazy Buzz and how it looked to be in a white and gold balloon shower.

Afterwards my parents took us out to lunch with the Wolffs, Heather, Becky, Alden, Kaya and the Malloys at Maggiano's. Definitely one of the best meals I've ever had, made infinitely better by all my favorites there with me.

Later that night was my party at my brother's, which was lots of fun. I'm irritated because a good number of people who said they would show didn't, which wouldn't have been a big deal (because most of my favorites were there!) except that it made the keg unnecessary and even more irritated that some (ok, one) that were there shouldn't have bothered! But any, we played all of my favorite drinking games and the night ended with what I like to call "the Will show," this episode being about on-campus bedding and its similarities to a "fuzzy tampon." It turns out that he meant to say maxi-pad... hilarious!

I am just truly grateful for all those who helped me celebrate (Kristy, I know you were there in spirit!) especially Melissa, Stephen, John and Justin who all drove long ways and Lucas who delayed his departure.

As I look back on my 12 semesters (yep, it took 12!) there are a lot of things I did and wish I hadn't, didn't and wish I had, but mostly I am satisfied with my experience. And hey, hopefully getting my masters will be a shorter, funner continuation of life there...

I guess things won't be changing that much for me, unlike many I know who are moving clear across the country. At least not yet. For the time being (til May) I will live with my favorite girls, work at the same place (new desk though!), and the classes will be considerably different. Mostly I just know the time will fly by and before I realize it I'll be walking again... and after that time I won't come back for more! Michelle has already argued with me about getting a PhD... by I think I'm going to stand firm on that one. I could be persuaded to go for an MBA though...

My Growing List of Pet Peeves

For the past few weeks I have been compiling in my mind a growing list of the political/social issues that I stand for (and very often disagree with the government with). This list includes:

1) human rights abuses and capital punishment
2) the right to choose
3) gay rights
4) simultaneous tax cuts and education/health care spending cuts
5) health care

and the list goes on... and on... and on.

This article sums up a lot of how I feel recently. And probably written a lot better than I would write.

And...

I'm done!? Sorta...

Where has the motivation gone?

Invitations have gone out for the kick ass party... 1 week from today it will all be over.

Nowhere can I find the motivation to do the work that is left. I have been procrastinating like no other this week. Or, the past few. This was a rough semester, each week was crazy. Dead week has actually been not as busy (although still extremely busy) for once...

I really need to motivate myself because one grade actually matters. For the rest I try a little (between being sick and having no motivation) because for some reason I can't completely let go.

School Left:
1) Spanish presentation tomorrow (already finished, just needs to be practiced once)
2) Aeroelasticity project... more than half coded, coding needs to be finished, project written up
3) Aero final... Wednesday at 8am... I need to study my butt off for this one!
4) Structures final... ah... I'll try a little
5) Spanish independent study paper... needs a little background story, re-read the Gabriel Garcia Marquez story that it's on and write it!
6) Cats2 (graduate aircraft design class) presentation to Doc at some point

Wow... that looks like a lot. I probably should get going on that.

Hey Melissa... how about we cheer each other on?!? :-)

My (Lack of Good) Health

Will says I have been sick ever since he's known me (right around 2.5 years). I have struggled with many sinus infections, asthma, and various colds and flus since my senior year of high school. This year has been by far the worst.

In the spring I was placed on antibiotics 5 separate times for sinus infections. The last one turned into brochitis and a strong likely hood of pneumonia (I have to admit that the health center was very good about monitoring me weekly and treating what I had). Unfortunately these all happened right after my first cycling race, so that put me out of commission until the summer. Summer was ok (lack of things to be allergic to, lots of rain).

This fall I have fortunately only had 1 sinus infection (actually, it might have been 2... at this point it's hard to keep track). My allergies were the worst this fall. I've only struggled with excercise-induced asthma in the past. This fall I found myself wheezing after the AE stairs, walking to class, walking up the stairs to my apartment. I was put on an every day steriod treatment that helped immensely. I was just about to start back with the workouts when I caught a cold. It went straight to my chest, and here I am with broncitis... again.

Right now I'm just extremely anxious about getting back onto the whole workout thing. On the bright side, today marks the beginning of my last week as an undergrad. I was officially accepted to grad school on Monday. The offer I received was better than I expected, so that was exciting. I also will only be taking one or two class, so hopefully things will calm down for a bit.

I hope to sleep more than 5 hours each night, workout every day, read everything that I want to, and many many more things. Yeah... we'll see how it goes.

Oh, interesting news. It turns out Mike Griffin (or Mr. Gobble, as I like to refer to him) is giving the commencement speech this Fall. He's also stopping by the ASDL for a little bit, since we did all that ESAS work this summer. Should be interesting. Sadly, it means that we have to take down the huge picture of him and his gobble neck.

Good and Bad Things

"Bad things happening to bad people. Don't lie, it makes you feel good because it gives you a sense of justice, even though you know that life is not just and that true justice comes only at the end of all things. It also reaffirms that which you know to be right and good, like our own morals."

Yep, Melissa, you nailed it. I always feel bad because I feel good when I see people who were crappy to me or wronged me get some karma. But it's superly nice to know that in such a crazy world, some things still make sense.

Last night at dinner Will told me the most hilarious thing. I am so evil that I enjoy that. But hey, what you send out in the world will come back to haunt you, so if you've been walking all over people for a few years, don't be surprised if you have some "bad luck" for awhile. Although, in my experience these people don't actually realize that they are the reason they are having hard times.

Last week of classes coming up. The work load has been much lighter since completing the last fluids report. It's amazing how much time those suck up. I only have 2 presentations, a homework, and a project left this semester. Then 2 finals and a Spanish paper. That's like nothing! Which probably explains why I am so unmotivated. Most kids I know are having their last week of classes ever. Not me, I start back in January as a grad student. Although, to my knowledge, I will only be in one or two classes. Thank God, I could use a break! The stupid AE department still hasn't given me my letter, even though Lexie (the financial manager of the ASDL and a total bitch) called Dr. Jagoda and yelled at her. He attempted to argue with her about Dr. Mavris accepting me. I can't wait til all of the out of touch dinosaurs leave, then the department can actually try to be good. I don't blame those who run as quickly as possible after graduation. The ASDL is that department's saving grace, in my opinion (both monetarily and educationally).


I made an album of a lot of my favorite pictures of me and Will on facebook and it made me realize that we've had a lot of fun together, which is great! Not to mention one of my favorite dates ever last night. Too bad he irritated me this morning :-p

Heather and my brother had a good date, which I am excited about. I'm not interested in the details, though.

Ah!

Help, I've turned into one of those people who never update!

The past few weeks and weekends have been extremely busy. I have been making mental notes on entries I would like to write, but for some reason or another I never seem to get around to it. Now I suppose this one will be a big update in general...

The first I wanted to write was about hanging out with my brother. Will, Heather and I ended up going over to his place to watch the UGA vs Auburn game (yay for Auburn winning!) Will left earlly but Heather and I went to a bar he likes to go to (the name escapes me) where all the rich emory kids go. It was nice to not pay for anything all night. But what was strange about the evening was hanging out with my brother. Througout our childhood we had huge problems with each other, being that we have completely conflicting personalities and beliefs (which is part of the reason I think children are born with their personalities, because how could two such different children come from the same genes and environment?) Anyway, being that he has gotten his life together recently, and that (according to him) I have mellowed out, we have started to get along. It was nice to spend some time with him. For a long time I wondered if my little family unit would ever grow closer as expected with age, since there was always so much conflict between us. What's even better is that he will be throwing my kick ass graduation party!!!

I found out that night that his roommate has gone back to dating a girl I was friends with in high school. This is extremely depressing since she's not cool and he could do way better. But oh well.

The following weekend we helped Alex celebrate her 22nd birthday!! It was an awesome night. Dinner and sake bombs at RuSan's (I won! See picture of peenie man), Tech beating Miami, running around campus singing the Ramblin Wreck and the Thanksgiving party at Delta Chi with Indian Farts like the wind, turkey baster and ice luge shots, and that weird ass dance song that I've only heard there. My one complaint is that I need to find people who will stay out later with me! :-p

The two days before Thanksgiving were crazy. Thanksgiving itself was pretty fun. Kristy, Heather and Lucas came to stay at my house Wednesday and Thursday. Ryan came just for dinner, along with Becky, Alden and Kaya. We ate a lot, dipped fruit in the chocolate fountain, my brother got my (underage) sister drunk, and the dinner ended in everyone doing shots around the table. I love my family.

Alden got sick the next day and ended up in the hospital (stomach virus). Either I caught that or the cold they kids have had because I have been sick since saturday. Nevertheless, I drove down to campus Saturday night to go to the UGA game. It was a nervewracking game, and I thought the teams were pretty evenly matched. We played well, although I am still irritated because I think with good coaching we could be so much better! It was awesome to see all of campus excited, the stadium full and everyone waving their gold streamer pom pom things. Oh, and it was fun trash talking over text messages with my brother... until we lost that is. :-p

Sunday a bunch of us took the kids to the aquarium. My brother went just cause Heather went, which was cute and I hope they end up dating. Kristy also went with us, and Alden loved her which was cute. I enjoyed the aquarium even though it was so crowded, although I think the Chattanooga aquarium still competes with it (all the hype over it being the worlds largest and all that stuff...) although it was amazing to watch the belugas in their water ballet, walk through the whale shark tunnel, and to see the penguins. I think they could have more educational stuff, as well as more variety. The Chattanooga aquarium does a good job explaining and presenting all types of water environments from all over the world. But all in all I think the butt load of money that I spent on annual passes for my entire family was well spent.

Now there are two crazy weeks chock full of work left, 2 exams, 1 paper and then graduation! (granted I do well on the aeroelasticity final). I wonder if grad school will feel different...

Pictures to be posted when I get them...

My Life

This Is My Life, Rated
Life:	7.7
Mind:	6.7
Body:	7.7
Spirit:	6.4
Friends/Family:	6.1
Love:	7.7
Finance:	7.9
Take the Rate My Life Quiz

One of my favorite things...

Taking a nap with my kitty curled up with me next to the fire.

Other favorite things (to be expanded on in the near future when the craziness dies down):
1) partying with melissa, alex, kristy, stephen, etc
2) when tech wins!
3) many others...

Random Thoughts

Many thoughts have been crossing my mind this week. I think I have reached my usual mid/late semester funk, where I am completely burnt out and uninspired. This time I have to keep pushing, although thankfully for not that much longer. Doesn't help that it's the time that I should get another sinus infection, although this time it seems to be going straight to my lungs...

The number of pet peeves that I have with the current government grows by leaps and bounds each year (or, more recently, each week). I suppose I should save my thoughts for a specific political entry, but the things that have disgusted and frustrated me recently are the torture thing, attempting to dodge questions, condemning people who disagree with you and many many others. The Daily Show this coming up Monday should be good, I wonder what they'll say about O'Reilly and Pat Robertson's comments.

I generally dislike the direction that this country is headed... the one where the rich are only concerned with staying rich, becoming richer and getting their friends in higher places; where people are more concerned with what they are wearing than the lives of others (great example you set, Brownie); where those who preach religion live the lives they condemn; and finally the in general feeling that many are out of touch, won't think for themselves and aren't slightly concerned about the politics of this nation or where it's headed. I believe that it is a citizen's responsibility to keep its government accountable. You can't do it if you don't know who the president is.

I love talking with my roomies, especially Melissa. Never have I met a girl on the same brain wave as me :-) You and I should move to Europe!

I've decided that I am not as mature as I would like to think I am. In fact, I'm kind of evil :-p I guess it's human nature though... I know many people who don't know who they are and don't understand that they control their own happiness and the power to change their circumstance lies solely within themselves. As I interact more and more, I realize how much I have grown in the past few years, especially in the knowing who I am and what I want department.

I'm extremely blessed to know and have Will in my life. :-)

I love the ASDL. Doc says I should be receiving my acceptance any day (they sent over the ASDL secretary to bully the AE secretaries and Dr. Jagoda into getting a move on accepting me). I love that the ASDL has the perspective it has about education, what kind of student is valuable, and the fact that it basically funds the whole AE department (eat that Dewey Hodges). I sit in my class and I realize that that's where I should be to learn what I need to learn in order to go where I want to go.

I'm extremely excited about graduating, specifically the part where my brother throws me a huge party at his awesome apartment. It will be a night to remember... or forget. :-)

Ok, I admit it!

I'm immature. I WANT to stoop! And be just like them. The thoughts always pop into my mind.

Can't I get bonus points just for being able to keep myself from doing that kinda stuff? Doesn't that separate me from them?

I hope so.

TGIF and Halloween 2005

Thank God this week is over! I try not to wish my time away, but I am glad to have a few minutes to just sit and breathe. The week still unded up being crazy , although things were shuffled around a little.

Thursday we had our Primer review with Doc. My group volunteered me to be one of the presenters, which added to the stress. Normally I don't sweat presentations (I used to when I first had to start giving them in Spanish but now that I am accustomed to it, the ones in English are no big deal), but Doc is extremely intimidating, especially since I still feel like I am validating myself. The presentation went well, and we didn't really get "nailed" as Doc likes to do, so I think we feel that it went well, although we could have added more detail to the content.

At least I had a blast last weekend before the stressful week. Friday night I babysat for awhile, then headed back here for our Circle of Death rematch. We actually made it to midnight this time! It was lots of fun (hey Melissa... any fun pictures to illustrate?)

Saturday my Mom brought Becky, Alden and Kaya down here to go to all the fun stuff before the game. It was so cute, they were so excited to be in "Buzz land" and to actually meet Buzz. Then instead of going to the game I went out with Alex. We battled Altantic Station to go to Old Navy, then I decided I wanted to go the the Halloween party so we went looking for costumes. Alex went as Britney, Will as some Crunk sort of person, and me as a Cat. Not really original, I know, but I had like 1 hour to shop. Then Will and I went out to dinner and the ballet and when we got back headed to party at Delta Chi with Melissa and Stephen. It was awesome (as all events with Melissa and Stephen and their friends are) and we stayed out pretty late.


Will, me and Alex

My Other Life

Saturday morning I returned to an email from Dr. Hodges post-poning the Aeroelasticity test until Friday, which means I can sorta breathe about this week now... and write in my blog!

Will agreed to go with me to see the Atlanta Ballet's production of Carmina Burana, which is one of my favorite ballets ever. We went last night (tickets were about as cheap as going to a movie!)
For those who don't know, from a very young age up until around the time I was 13 I was set on being a ballerina. That was my dream, my everything that I lived for. It started in Florida with a tap class. We moved to Georgia and I spent 1 year taking classes at a small dance studio in Dunwoody, after which a teacher sent me to try out for the Atlanta Ballet's Pre-Professional program. I made it and my ballet-filled life began. I trained hard, year round, all the time. Every afternoon my mom drove me downtown for class. I would get home late, eat, do some homework, go to bed, rinse repeat. I had no summers off. Instead of being a school during the summer, I went to ballet school. Dancing almost straight from 8-4pm, go home to soak my feet, get up the next day, rinse, repeat.

I adored it. There's just something about having complete command of your body, of pushing it to the limits, of expressing a million things through movement.

Carmina Burana was not the first performance I had been to since I stopped, but seeing my favorite made me yearn for my life (why... it was harder than this life I lead at Tech?) What hit me the most was seeing this guy... my 10 year old crush, a boy in my level at the program, he is now a soloist with the company. I couldn't help but think... if I hadn't stopped, could I have made it?

Two severe blows are what led to me stopping ballet. The first was not being graduated to the next level. The program had 4 levels. My plan was to spend 1 year in levels 1 and 2, then 2 years in level 3 and who cares how many in level 4. At the end of each summer there were evaluations. I was being evaluated at the end of my 1st year in level 2, I had an awful day. I was nervous, nothing would go where I told it to. I didn't get promoted.

Right around that time the company experienced a big change. Robert Barnett, the director for so, so many years retired... taking with him the rights to all the classical ballets (including The Nutcracker) that I hold so dear. The new director, John McFall, brought his own versions of everything. I was disappointed to not be doing Balanchine's Nutcracker because I knew (as a 2 year veteran of the production) that I would be up for a good part (quite possibly the part of Mary). They held auditions for the 'new' Nutcracker. This director didn't like my dancing, I was cut in the first round.

Not liking the direction that the company was heading in, I auditioned at many other places around Atlanta. Rotaru, several others. All placed me at almost the highest levels within their training programs. I knew I would outgrow those places in just several years; they weren't developed or challenging enough in my opinion.

It was dark that night, in the car on the way home. My Mom was asking me about what I wanted to do. I didn't want to join any of those other programs, they weren't good enough. But I didn't want to return to the Atlanta Ballet. Just like that, my dream was over. All the years of work, all the time, the thousands my parents paid for my training... all gone.

It was a quick moment, I remember my heart stopping when I said it. It made me incredibly sad. As I though more I decided it was a good decision. I, at the time, thought I probably had no chance of having a real career in dance (so few do) and I was lacking that natural talent. I could spend my time on school work, get good grades, make some friends, try something else.

So my next life began. I struggled with weight. Not having to watch what I ate anymore and lacking 4 hours of exercise a day will make you blow up like a balloon. I played on a soccer team. I tested into the accelerated track at my school. I did teenager things on Friday nights, I didn't go see the new production of the Nutcracker. Middle school turned to high school, high school turned to college and all of a sudden I'm graduating as an aerospace engineer from Georgia Tech... who would've known the little girl who had to have ballerinas all over everything would end up in something so removed from ballet.

As I watched my first crush dance, I wondered. His face and hair are exactly the same. He wasn't blessed with natural talent either, although he was better than others at the school. Today he is turning into a great dancer. Big jumps, fast turns, high lifts... they certainly did groom him well. I wonder, could they have done that for me? Would I be there, him lifting me, if it hadn't been for that late night so many years ago? If I had decided to stick with it, realized (as I do now) that spending two years in level 2 was perfectly normal...

... but then I wouldn't have my life that I have now. Time to spend with my family, Friday nights with an amazing man, great roomies, football games, a chance to participate in important studies that lead to legislation and decide how millions of dollars are spent...

I try not to regret my choices because every experience you have makes you the person you are today. I like who I am today, so changing any one moment would change me... who knows if for the better or worse. And I certainly don't regret my life now. I just wonder, could that have been me up there last night...

I think in the spring I will take a ballet class.

Checking out for awhile

Today the anxiety about next week sets in, so I'll be busy until next thursday at 6pm.

How come when it rains, it pours?

Our Primer for Graduate design is due thursday... we have no idea what to do with our open-ended project.
Probably a millions CatS2 (the name of our project) meetings...
I have a spanish presentation on tuesday
Fluids lab report due Wednesday
Aeroelasticity test on Wednesday
Two long spanish readings due Thursday

And of course work is crazy. There is a workshop next week plus the manhattan project plus a billion other things so Michelle had me running around doing random stuff today. Oh well, I guess that's what I get for wanting to be "essential." I bet the beginning of the week before the workshop will be nuts so I'm not going to even go in on Monday cause I only work 2 hours and I'm sure one of my many assignments would appreciate that time instead...

Thank God there is not structures 2 hw due this Wednesday. So basically I will be working non-stop til then... except with a little fun in between (like at our circle of death rematch tonight);-)

Random Thoughts

I think it would be better if for this semester the weekends would fall on Thursday and Friday... simply because I'm busiest up til Wednesday then it slows down. And usually too burned out to get much accomplished Thursday and Friday (although I try!)

Yesterday my mom brought my little cousins down here to see the "Buzz Store" (book store). I definitely have brainwashed those kids. They ran around excited singing their interpretations of the "Buzz song" It was too cute! I live for the time I spend with those kids...

This morning I overslept and missed spinning for the first time in a few weeks. I'm mad at myself, although I didn't do it on purpose. I think I may be coming down with something...

Dr. Jagoda sucks because I'm fairly certain he hasn't even looked at my application (much less given it to Doc) and I already had to tell them that I wanted to extend my housing contract. What is the problem! I busted my ass to get that thing turned in by the end of August and he hasn't so much as looked at it months later. If you're too busy to be the graduate admissions person, here's a thought: don't be the graduate admissions person! I hope it all works out...

Yesterday Dr. Doug Stanley, who is a Tech research engineer but works at the NIA, presented the ESAS (aka what I poured my life into this summer). He was the head of the study, which makes me wonder why we never heard from him before today. You'd think he would've been a little more involved...

He didn't have anything to spectacular to present. In fact, what he focused on, which is the architecture they decided on, we knew about in May. I was a little astonished that he would stand up there and lie about stuff in front of a ton of people... but then again, I guess I shouldn't be surprised at that. Dr. Kirby told us we weren't allowed to say anything or ask questions (cause we are all bitter and pissed) but a guy from the SSDL asked my question. Knowing that they had thrown all the decision-making techniques and capabilities we provided them out the window, I wanted to ask how they reached the decisions they made. Dr. Stanley said "we did trade studies and used matrices" by which I assume he meant someone other than him pulled something out of their ass and now the government will spend millions of dollars creating this stuff that isn't optimized while pertinent scientific research gets cut.

Yeah, Doug Stanely, your study was a real success.

Among all this I have learned something very important. None of my friends and co-workers will be truly successful in the AE industry, at least not the space side. Why? We aren't nearly ugly enough. What is it with those who work at headquarters having pony tails?

He ended his presentation by saying that many of us will get to work on ESAS in the future... to which I say I already did and I'm not exactly jumping at the chance to do it again.

In other work news the other thing that I've been working on is now turning into "The Manhattan Project" as Michelle calls it. During a meeting today she identified me as one of her 3 key people, and that made me glad. I like working hard and getting more responsibility.

Monday in Fluids lab Dr. Seitzman was quizzing everyone (as he does, since he loves the Socratic method). We were going down the rows talking about a turbine (something you should, at the bare minimum, be able to do after having jet pro). He reaches one Amanda Lowry and instead of venturing a guess she says "I just want to be a housewife." Crazy. While I think being a housewife is a difficult and respectable job, if that is all I wanted to do I certainly wouldn't be an AE major. And even if I really wanted to be an AE or engineering major, I'd put some time into it and learn stuff so that I could apply it elsewhere and not completely waste my time. In my opinion there are still valuable things to learn regardless if you care about how a turbine engine works or not.

So, while I'm on my soapbox...

if you don't like a situation, change it. Or, give changing it your best try. I think that is one of the things that separates children and adults. Children are helpless and can only become upset and whine about stuff. Adults have the power to understand the situation and alter it.

The end.

Fall Break 2005

It had been some time since Will and I had gone somewhere alone (Spring Break 2004, to be exact) and some time since we'd spent a good amount of quality time together. Fall Break was a perfect opportunity, so last week we booked a great hotel in Chattanooga with a package to visit the Tennessee Aquarium together. It was somewhere neither of us had ever been so we were really excited.

The weekend started with the (somewhat) annual party at my old work. Except this time I got to take Will with me, which was great. It was nice to catch up with everyone, especially my favorite Heather. Except I learned that you should never eat only tiramisu for dinner then drink two margaritas with a beer in between. Bad news. I wasn't really drunk, but my stomach wasn't happy.

We left early Saturday morning and got to Chattanooga around 1030am (after a really yummy breakfast at Cracker Barrel... the first time I had eaten at one.) We checked into the hotel (which was so fancy we 'checked' our bags til the afternoon) and headed on the electric shuttle down to the Aquarium. Turns out the tickets that came with the hotel package were "VIP" so we got to skip the long line and go straight in. The aquarium was really neat and the area of Chattanooga along the Tennessee River is beautiful. We headed back to the hotel in the afternoon, and after a nap we headed to a famous barbeque place where we had a great meal. We then headed back to the hotel, watched some movies and looked forward to a morning without an alarm...

...except that the hotel fire alarm went of at 915am. For a minute I thought I was back in my bed and the alarm was going off for 630am spinning. We headed outside where Will stood on the cold grass barefoot until the fire department came (yep, it was an actual fire). After they let everyone back in we headed to breakfast (also included in the deal) at the hotel's 4 star restaurant. It was possibly the best breakfast I've ever had.

We then checked out and headed to Lookout Mountain to ride the Incline Railway. I was pleasantly surprised by everything at the top of the mountain, including the Military Park that we spent a good amount of time in. After spending some time there and taking a quick drive to see Rock City we headed back home. We finished off the weekend by seeing Elizabethtown with Alex and Kristy.

It was a great trip and we promised each other to make taking a trip together someplace new a priority every year.

And now for pictures...

The Tennesse Aquarium

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Originally uploaded by aepilota.

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Originally uploaded by aepilota.

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Originally uploaded by aepilota.

Will with the Tennesse Aquarium in the background

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Originally uploaded by aepilota.

The Incline Railway (goes 1 mile, 72% grade at times)

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Originally uploaded by aepilota.

A view down the Incline Railway

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Originally uploaded by aepilota.

The entrance to the Military Park on top of Lookout Mountain

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Originally uploaded by aepilota.

My cutie on top of Lookout Mountain

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Originally uploaded by aepilota.

Us with the Tennesse River Valley and Chattanooga in the background

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Originally uploaded by aepilota.

New York Civil War Memorial

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Originally uploaded by aepilota.

I think if there were AE jobs in Chattanooga I would move there... there are bike paths everywhere!

I knew that already.

Pure Nerd
73 % Nerd, 21% Geek, 13% Dork
For The Record:

A Nerd is someone who is passionate about learning/being smart/academia.
A Geek is someone who is passionate about some particular area or subject, often an obscure or difficult one.
A Dork is someone who has difficulty with common social expectations/interactions.
You scored better than half in Nerd, earning you the title of: Pure Nerd.

The times, they are a-changing. It used to be that being exceptionally smart led to being unpopular, which would ultimately lead to picking up all of the traits and tendences associated with the "dork." No-longer. Being smart isn't as socially crippling as it once was, and even more so as you get older: eventually being a Pure Nerd will likely be replaced with the following label: Purely Successful.

Congratulations!

Melissa would be proud!

You are a Social Liberal (70% permissive) and an... Economic Liberal (20% permissive) You are best described as a: Socialist Link: The Politics Test on Ok Cupid Also: The OkCupid Dating Persona Test

Next try:

You are a Social Liberal (68% permissive) and an... Economic Liberal (21% permissive) You are best described as a: Strong Democrat Link: The Politics Test on Ok Cupid Also: The OkCupid Dating Persona Test

My Pet Peeves...

Hey Melissa, can you add this one to the list?

Boys (anyone) who complain about not being able to meet people... but they never go out. How exactly are you supposed to meet someone if you sit in your room all the time? Expect to run into the girl of your dreams wandering the halls? The internet? Yeah, right.

Oh, and if you do ever run into a girl... don't be surprised if she's umimpressed by you. There are a lot of smart, well-rounded, outgoing people here... how exactly does someone whose life consists of their dorm room expect to hold a conversation with a girl? I don't forsee her wanting to talk about video games/star trek/comic books/*insert Technie hobbie* here...

I know some great girls. It's a shame there aren't great guys to introduce them to!

For the Ignorant (That means you, John Loesel)

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/10/06/politics/06cnd-detain.html

"Defying the White House, the Senate overwhelmingly agreed Wednesday to regulate the detention, interrogation and treatment of prisoners held by the American military."

"More than two dozen retired senior military officers, including Colin L. Powell and John M. Shalikashvili, two former chairmen of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, endorsed the amendment, which would ban use of "cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment" against anyone in United States government custody.It would also require all American troops to use only interrogation techniques authorized in a new Army field manual. It would not cover techniques used by the Central Intelligence Agency."

"Mr. McCain, who was a prisoner of war in the Vietnam War, added in closing Wednesday night: 'Many of my comrades were subjected to very cruel, very inhumane and degrading treatment, a few of them even unto death. But every one of us - every single one of us - knew and took great strength from the belief that we were different from our enemies.'"

That's right, that is what separates the good from the bad. It is about time they pass something like this. This is the United States, a country who should respect human rights.

To those who feel it is acceptable to mistreat other human beings: I think you should re-think your morals and values, because you are lacking some.

To the Football Team

Dear Yellow Jacket Football Team,

I have been a loyal fan since before I was a student. I have stayed up late and put off homework to cheer for you. I've rooted for you when you were behind, I've never been a fairweather fan...

... but now I am considering it. Last game you had an excuse, you were missing your center. There was no excuse this time. They didn't win because they were better, they won because of stupid mistakes and bad decisions. Two awful kicks and one horrible decision cost the game. You play in the ACC now, it is time to leave the mistakes and bad decisions behind.

Do you know how heartwrenching it is to be a fan? It is a rollercoaster. I no longer wonder at those who stay away or leave at half time. I thought it was disrespectful, but now I know they were saving themselves the disappointment.

I know that it is all mental and that you depend on the support of your fans, but now I am weary. I have supported you through thick and thin, and you have yet to show me the results. We cheered for you tonight until we couldn't speak anymore, and you let us down in the last 30 seconds.

I sincerly hope you can pull yourselves out of this rut. I am skeptical, you haven't been able to do this before. I hope this will still be a winning season...

You are all talented (except for the kicker). Over the years that I have been here I have seen you mature, especially Reggie. Now I want to see the results. I want to see you be strong, pick yourselves up, and play like I know that you can.

Your (frustrated) fan
Livia

P.S. I wouldn't mind a great coach who could rally you guys to win. Cause Chan Gailey isn't hacking it.

Fluids Frustration

Fluids lab is SO frustrating! Not the actual course or the material... I actually enjoy the subject, I think the labs are cool and the reports aren't as bad as I thought.

HOWEVER, my group sucks. Claire is in it, which is good. So is this kid from LCC this summer, who has actually turned out to be great in the lab (although he does have slacker tendencies). And that's the end of the useful/smart/cool people in the group. There are two guys that I know from work. Both waste time with stupid questions (things they would've known had they bothered to read the manual). One is never on time and has no clue what's going on. The other has no clue and likes to slow everyone down. The other is a jackass and on top of that he always messes up whatever he is doing.

It's irritating to know that people like that get by and will end up with the same degree as me. It's also not great that someday they will be out in the working world representing not only Georgia Tech but the program that I received my degree from. I find that personally insulting.

Thankfully we write reports individually. And, it's only once a week and 1.5 hours (usually). And almost halfway over!

The Molding of Young Minds

The Fall of my Sophomore year was an interesting time. Not only was it my most stressful semester to date, I also felt a little lost. I wanted an internship, a research position or something to distinguish myself. Trouble is, I wasn't a citizen yet and it wasn't a great time for the aerospace industry.

Then I received an email about this scholarship from Boeing. I wasn't going to apply but they emphasized wanting minorties and women, so I thought why not.

This scholarship was given out by the Boeing chair of the AE school, Dr. Dimitri Mavris. "Doc," as everyone who works with him calls him, also happens to be the head of the Aerospace Systems Design Lab. He spoke of wanting us to become involved, of wanting to inspire us to attend grad school. I thought, sign me up!

It was difficult to become involved in research there. I found out recently that they didn't really believe in the power of undergraduates at the time, and the first ones were just making their way through (those include Elise and Scott). In the Summer of 2004 I finally got involved (sorta) with the ASDL by doing some work with Hernando, a guy I had met my freshman year who now is a grad student. By the end of that summer I was extremely frustrated. I wanted more.

I spoke with Doc and he handed me over to Dr. Michelle Kirby. She intimidated me. But soon I became part of her team and was attending meetings and trying to learn as much about TIES and TMAT (her two processes) as I could. The learning curve was steep and at times I felt completely useless. Since I was inexperienced with coding and probabilistics, in January Michelle put me to work on the NIA Congressional Study. Then came the ONR calculator, where I was really able to show my stuff. Then came this summer, where I worked more hours and harder than I had before and became an integral part of my team. She was intimidating, but through the intimidation I found that I am very much like her in some respects and different in others. But mostly I just learned that she wants kids to become involved and to grow, and that's what I was doing.

At the end of this summer she sat us (me, Elise, Sara, Paul) down and told us she would begin moving us away from doing "grunt" work and starting to teach us to become researchers. I was excited, this was what I had ultimately been aiming for.

I got a clear picture of what all of this work and grooming has been leading up to this Thursday. We have been working on developing a new process, and Michelle has been trying to push me, Elise and Sara into doing more of the thinking and development. We had a brainstorming meeting this past Thursday and for the first time I got to contribute thoughts and ideas. I convinced to myself the importance of a Master's degree. They don't teach innovation in undergrad.

It was so exciting to be a part of that integral team that is forming this new (and what I think to be extremely important) process for NASA, ONR and industry in general. Thursday after a 3 day workshop to learn new software, we were standing around talking to the guy from the company that came to visit. She was telling him the history of the ASDL, why undergraduates are important, and her little "army." He asked about the value of a degree from another place and I told him I had done some research and hadn't found anywhere quite like the ASDL. She turned to me and said "Forget it, you're not going anywhere."

I am already taking a graduate class. They will be moving me into a desk as soon as someone moves out.

I have come to love the ASDL and the ASDL family. Will and I have become one of the ASDL "couples," even though we were "external" originally. But mostly, as I see now more and more what a graduate education here will be like, I know it's the right place for me. Doc, the father figure to all of us, spends more time in class talking about becoming leaders and being leaders with character and integrity than on the equations or theory. Our education as engineers is complete, he says. Now we will become leaders, innovators, and complete people. It's nice to finally be somwhere where they acknowledge that on paper a person may look good but ultimately it is their character that will decide where they go.

Applied Design is not like senior design where we will all have the same answer. Our RFP is so broad we could take it wherever we want to, and that is liberating. I know that I will be at the forefront of the industry and innovation someday, and that's just cool.

It is weird to think that in December I will be an "engineer" and in January I will (continue) work on my master's degree. That makes me feel so old...

:-)

I am not an angry girl.

I am not a pretty girl
that is not what I do
I ain't no damsel in distress
and I don't need to be rescued
so put me down punk
wouldn't you prefer a maiden fair
isn't there a kitten stuck up a tree somewhere?

I am not an angry girl
but it seems like I've got everyone fooled
every time I say something they find hard to hear
they chalk it up to my anger
and never to their own fear
and imagine you're a girl
just trying to finally come clean
knowing full well they'd prefer you
were dirty and smiling

and I am sorry
but I am not a maiden fair
and I am not a kitten stuck up a tree somewhere

and generally, my generation
wouldn't be caught dead working for the man
and generally I agree with them
trouble is you gotta have youself an alternate plan
and I have earned my disillusionment
I have been working all of my life
and I am a patriot
I have been fighting the good fight
and what if there are no damsels in distress
what if I knew that and I called your bluff?
don't you think every kitten figures out how to get down?
whether or not you ever show up

I am not a pretty girl
I don't really want to be a pretty girl
no I want to be more than a pretty girl.
~ Not a Pretty Girl, Ani DiFranco

2 Good Weekends and Some Craziness In Between

So... I've been really really busy. Last weekend we went to Six Flags on Friday, which was awesome. I went with Elise, John, Brian and of course Will (one of our very first dates/outings was to Six Flags so its tradition to go and this was the 3rd time!) We rode the Scorcher then ran into Katina and her husband Ari, which also seems to be a tradition. So our new bigger group then went on Deja Vu, did the wheelie, bumper cars, Superman and Batman twice. Good times! I always love catching up with Katina and I can't believe she's married now! But now she's my Monday lunch buddy!

Saturday consisted of a bike ride, going to the game and then to Wreck the Deck at Delta Chi. Good times... better described in pictures than in words. Oh, except for the asinine guys behind us at the game that kept yelling "you suck" every 2 seconds to the UNC band. Then when they got bored of that they turned to Spanish insults. Classy, right?

Sunday I of course spent the whole day at home, as usual.

This past week was pretty hectic through Wednesday (aero homework due, structures hw due, fluids lab report due... all on the same day). Tuesday I went and got my hair cut at the Aveda Institute, which went well except for that it took forever. I caught a bug or something so I was kinda sick Wednesday and Thursday. Then Wednesday during lab I received a text from Will saying to call my Mom and I was immediately worried. She had a mammogram done the week before and it turns out they found lumps in both of her breasts. One was a cyst filled with water, which they drained this past Friday, and the other is a tumor which they did a biopsy on and we will find out the results either tomorrow or Tuesday. Needless to say I'm really worried about her, but I guess I've always thought she'd end up with some type of cancer (liftime smoker). But, one step at a time and for now I'm just trying to focus on other stuff and not be so worried.

This past Friday Will and I finally made it to the Botanical Gardens, which we had been trying to do since May. It was reallly awesome, up until it started raining (figures). I took many great pictures (check out flickr). Then we went out to dinner and caught up with Alex and Melissa and their swim club people and headed to Ramblin Nights. Yesterday I was extremely unproductive all day then went to the game and today spent the day taking care of Kaya and Alden since I couldn't lift anything.

Since pictures can probably capture the fun better, here goes:

Me and Will at the UNC game


Brian and Alex at the UNC game


Yay for cool roomies!


Me and Will at Wreck the Deck


Melissa and Stephen at Wreck the Deck


We like to party :-)


Kaya and Alden going for a spin in the convertible


Botanical Gardens


A view of a really cool exhibit at the Gardens called "Locomotion in the Garden"


Flowers... and Will :-)


Alex, Brian and Will about to go off the 5 meter board (they are braver than I am)


There he goes!


Will, Me, Kristy at the game


Yay for a new picture with Buzz!


Alden in his fort


Kaya loves my Mom... and "tickers"


Kaya talking to "Lulu"


And now for another crazy week...

What goes around comes around

It's called Karma. It's a bitch, isn't it?

Ha.

Colors

Can you feel it crush you
Does it seem to bring the worst in you out
There's no running away from
These things that hold you down

Do they complicate you
Because they make you feel like this
Of all the colors that you shine
This is surely not your best

But you should know these
Colors that your shinin'

Are surely not the best
Colors that you shine

Surely not the best
Colors that you shine

I know you feel alone, yea
No one else can figure you out
But don't you ever turn away from
The ones that help you down

They love to save you
Don't you know they would love to see you smile
But these colors that you shine
Are surely not your style

But you should know these
Colors that your shinin'
Are surely not your best.
~Crossfade, Colors

Cowardly Behavior

Melissa has been the unlucky recipient of some hateful anonymous blog comments. This has happened to me before, also. Another similar situation is people making hateful comments behind my back, which I experienced not only last spring but also last week.

I became extremely irritated when I read what was written on her blog. It appears that the individual who wrote those comments did not bother to read what she had written, or more likely is too ignorant to understand words like hegemony. But, on top of that, this person didn't have the balls to sign their name with their comment. Now, I know some people who say pretty infuriating things a lot of the time, but at least they have the courage to stand up for what they say.

But, as I continued to think about the situation, as well as the ones prior to this one, I began to pity these people. A person who feels the need to leave hateful anonymous messages to someone in order to make themselves feel better is not a good person. I mean really, how sad is that? In fact, I think they make a pretty pathetic excuse of a person. If you're going to be that childish, at least own up to it.

Last spring I had a girl lie outright to my face about comments she had been making. I also had someone make a not nice comment on my own blog and not live up to it. Come on, people, grow some balls!

If we can't take credit for what we're saying, then perhaps we should not be saying those things at all.

I admire Melissa (and others) for always attaching their name to their statements, no matter what fallout may come after.

Sex and the City

I have started watching Sex and the City, sometimes the roomies do, too. We started talking about who was most like which character (I'm sure there is some quiz online that I could take). Kristy is obviously most like Charlotte, and Alex like Carrie. Then we got to me, and Will automatically said Miranda. That surprised me a little bit, since I am a romatic and very traditional.

However, the other day as I was walking back from class lost in my thoughts, I realized that I do think like Miranda (in a lot of ways). I believe in hard work, I believe that you should earn everything, I believe in being independent. I don't believe in entitlement. All that "No child left behind stuff?" I say leave them. Otherwise you will teach them that they can get by without a lot of work. I believe that there should be weed out courses and those who are "weeded out" should pursue something else. Life is not about being the smartest, it's about being the hardest worker, the most motivated and committed. It's about being resilient.

I somehow learned along the way that there should be hard work involved in everything. That being successful takes a lot of time and determination (somehow my siblings didn't get this message :-p) I've met many people who believe that they are entitled or use excuses to get ahead in the world and not work hard. I think it is people like this who will lead America to no longer be the world leader in many things.

It's not entirely their fault, of course. Many of us are raised by parents who grew up without anything or didn't spend much time with their kids and want to give them everything. I believe it's a form of enabling.

I have the perfect example to illustrate my opinion. I have a co-worked (I knew her from before, that is the next example). She is also AE. A day this summer illustrated exactly what I mean. Since May we had been told that we were expected to keep a certain weekend open as we would need to work (thanks, NASA). She booked a trip for that weekend. She returned the Monday after our work filled weekend and immediately started complaining about having to stay late that night because she had a lot of homework. Then, later on in the summer, she was upset because I got more recognition than her. She and I worked on a project in the spring also were something similar happened. A deadline was coming up and she kept bailing on the workload because of schoolwork.

A few of my points: I understand the schoolwork thing also, as I also take the same classes. I try to get a lot of work done so that my work time can be devoted to just that: working. I think if you book a trip the weekend before you have a ton of work to do, you need to get the work out of the way. Or, not complain when it's not done. And I think if you're not committed, then you shouldn't be surprised when you don't get responsibility, leadership, and recognition. She expects to have seniority over me because she has been with the lab longer, but she doesn't realize that seniority doesn't come from the time you spend there but rather what you do with it.

Strangely enough, I also got a negative impresison of her when we first me. It was the Summer semester of 2003. She was in the class that Will and I met in, Dynamics. 29 of us were in that class, 23 failed. I knew the situation wasn't right, and that not all 23 of us could be dumb slackers (like Loewy wanted us to think) so I organized meetings and petitioned to have our grades changed. She told me that she was absolutely uninterested in working to have her grade changed. However, when the news went out that the petition had been approved, she was the first to sign up.

Unfortunately life can be unfair sometimes and the not hard workers can still get by, or your hard work will go unnoticed. Either way, I think it's important to take initiative and be a motivated person.

I guess I am just bothered recently by those who want everything but don't want to work for it and get upset when they don't get it. Or, those who complain about their situation but have put themselves there and do nothing about it.

Speaking of busy weekends and too much work, this weekend should be awesome. Six Flags, cycling, tailgating, football, partying, little cousins and perhaps a little homework in between. I hope it's worth it when I'm stressed next Tuesday night...

... I know it will be ;-)

If you can watch Oprah and not cry...

...then you must have a heart of stone. I just happened to be here this afternon while Oprah was on and she is in Texas covering the aftermath of hurricane katrina. Although I had been affected by the coverage on the news and by talking to friends affected, nothing affected me like Oprah's coverage did. She of course went beyond what CNN (if I have to watch TV news it definitely will not be Fox) covered and spoke to people. The stories just broke my heart. There are those still sleeping on streets who have had food for days and haven't seen their families for a week. There are those who passed away on the side of the street.

This is America. This shouldn't happen to citizens of this country. There are those who say that these people should have heeded the evacuation warning, but what about the people who had no choice? What is you were too poor to own a car, be able to get a hotel room or a train/plane/bus ticket?

What strikes me is how short sighted we as people can be. We don't take the time to understand and appreciate the situations of others. Not only that, but we take what we have for granted. Sure there are hard days, hard tests; people walk into and out of your life, etc. We should take the time to appreciate what we have and give to those who are less fortunate than ourselves.

I am extremely proud of the Georgia Tech family for opening its doors and hearts to those affected. As some of the most priveledged people on the planet, it is our duty to be selfless and give of ourselves. This is what will keep the world a happy, good place and I have seen my peers more than step up to the plate and it warms my heart.

3 Girls, 1 Boat, No Underwear and Some Garden Domes

Well, there were 2 boys, also. Sunday Kristy, Alex, Will and I met John up at Lake Allatoona to do some sailing on his boat "High Flight." We spent most of the beautiful day just sailing (sometimes motoring) around, following a guy around the lake who turned out to not be hot, and telling Alex to put on some sunscreen. We took lunch and ate out on the boat. We had a great time, especially when re-enacting the Titanic and being "Garden Domes" (another funny Alex/Kristy quote) on the front of the boat. The only thing that could have made it better would have been for Melissa and Stephen to be there! The best way to describe the day is through pictures so here goes.

Kristy and Alex


I don't have a silly face like Alex


Yay for Roomies! (we need to photoshop Melissa in)


One of the great Alex faces


Will helping to raise the sails


John displaying skills


Glamourous Kristy


A couple of Garden Domes... I mean Knomes... I mean hood ornaments


So we may have used the motor for this...


Meet George, the autopilot.


George is oh so sexy.


Titanic.


:-)