EPIC WIN pt 2

#1 USC 21, Oregon State... 27! YEEAAAHHH!!!!

EPIC WIN

Today, I:
1) Got paid
2) Took my black suit coat to get it altered to fit more better
3) Finished my algebra homework (w00!)
4) Finished grading for the one Foundations class
5) Started AND finished my complex variables homework
6) Biked down a huge hill

All of these are in chronological order, except for one. Can you guess which element is out of order, and where it should really go?

Buyer's Remorse

So today on my way home from the university, I decided to stop by the local music store and pick up a Snow Patrol CD. I like the Snow Patrol CD I have, I reasoned, so I will probably like whichever other Snow Patrol CD I end up buying. So I used about thirteen of my hard-earned tutoring dollars to purchase Songs for Polarbears, which I believe is their third effort (I own their sophomore album, Final Straw, which I hold to be musical genius).

As I was walking back out to my car, trying to free the music from its plastic-wrapped confinement, the thought momentarily crossed my mind that CD's are kinda like cars, inasmuch as the moment you drive them off the lot (or, as it were, open the plastic wrap), they lose unreasonable amounts of value. I shrugged the thought off, though, fully expecting to enjoy the music, and never expecting to want to return it.

Well, as you may have guessed from the title of this post, I was wrong.

I put the CD in the car's CD player and pulled out the liner notes to do my customary glance over the lyrics. I like lyrics, in general. They are often the finest poetry the modern day has to offer. But, speaking as a man of religious and moral convictions, they are often objectionable. I was rather surprised to find that this was the case with Songs for Polarbears - my cursory examination revealed two instances of the "f-bomb", as the kids are saying these days, as well as sexual innuendo out the wazoo. That gives the album an immediate black mark in my book, because I simply don't enjoy listening to people swear at me, no matter how good the music is.

Which brings me neatly to my next point. It's not that good. The music, that is. I'm up to track 11 now (of 23 - you have to give them credit for trying), and I still haven't heard a song I genuinely like. The magic of Final Straw is distressingly absent. I can't put my finger on what's missing, or perhaps what there's too much of, but I am not enjoying the sound. It's like suddenly they revived Nirvana in their more sedate moments, and I keep hearing things that remind me of Death Cab for Cutie, but I'd really rather listen to the Death Cab song the Snow Patrol song reminds me of.

And so, I have buyer's remorse. But the worst part is, because I was kinda dumb and didn't do the proper iTunes-assisted research beforehand, I'm out $13, and I can't get a full refund. I doubt that I can even exchange it straight across for something I might like better. So I'm up a creek, but at least I can warn other people not to direct their watercraft up this particular creek.

^{(Apparently I'm just not a polarbear)}

More or less scripture

And when he finisheth his homework, he calleth together his friends and neighbours, saying unto them, Rejoice with me; for I have finished my analysis homework, which was exceeding hard.

\o/

Prophecy and fulfillment

We Saints of latter days are the literal fulfillment of the prophecy recorded in the 122^nd section of the Doctrine and Covenants: "The ends of the earth shall inquire after thy name... while the pure in heart, and the wise, and the noble, and the virtuous, shall seek counsel, and authority, and blessings continually from under thy hand. And thy people shall never be turned against thee by the testimony of traitors."

Do you ever stop and think that you are the fulfillment of prophecy?

A mathematical observation.

First of all, any subgroup of index 2 must be normal, so if 2 divides the order of a finite group G and you have an element of order |G|/2, G is not simple.

Secondly, and the *real* point of this post, mathematicians say "let" a lot, as in, "Let x be an element of G." It's entirely possible to read a proof as having a rather bossy tone: "Let x be in G. Don't you DARE not let x be in G. Take H = {e,x,x²,...} - Come on! TAKE IT!! Note that H is cyclic - and if you don't note it, you will be dealt with harshly." I wonder if anyone cowers when they read proofs because the tone interpretation section of their brain is a little bit broken.

The inaugural homework grading post

I recently accepted a job as a grader for a math class, Foundations of Analysis I. I will be grading papers on a weekly basis, and will probably post something about it each week. Here's this week's entry.

One guy had some totally bogus answer to a question, but then redeemed some style points by writing: "How did I misunderstand the question so badly?" It is followed by a correct statement of the answer (though without proof), written in a hand that suggests it is a last-minute addition to the previously "solved" problem.

Another guy gets style points for entitling an answer: "[LastName]'s Theorem".

Another guy loses style points (and points points) for writing the following after a completely bogus set-theoretic argument: "Therefore, they have the same sets" (speaking of two sets). ... ??

List of albums listened to while grading (or, I should add, just doing homework earlier):
U2 - Achtung Baby
U2 - Zooropa
U2 - All That You Can't Leave Behind
Snow Patrol - Final Straw
Pink Floyd - Dark Side of the Moon (It contains the incredibly apropos track Brain Damage)
Moby - 18

Hours spent grading: 3.5

Brain status after grading: Osterizer'd mush

An observation

With no disrespect intended towards their physical prowess, stamina or agility, some people just look silly running.

Also, I got a free desk today off KSL Classifieds. \o/

Living the Dream

First of all, let me say that I apparently suck at blogging.

The last few days have been freaking awesome, and since my mission where the word "awesome" was completely verboten, that is a word I do not use lightly.

Monday: I went to my dad's work and got to play with a pressure washer, my algebra textbook came in the mail, and oh, Jack Johnson concert. I *could* leave it right there, but I don't think I will. It was the best show I've ever gone to. His opening acts were solid, the venue (USANA Amphitheater) is great (except for getting out of the parking lot afterwards), and he and his band were amazing. His keyboardist played a song entitled The Devil Went Down to Bavaria on the accordion (!), a guy told him he wanted his wife to have his babies (which made him actually stop in the middle of a song, reply "You're lovely, and I'm sure your husband has had a few too many drinks", and start the song over), and he totally played all my favorite songs (including dropping a passage from the Cars' Just What I Needed into Sitting, Waiting, Wishing). GOOD TIMES.

Tuesday: Okay, so not so dreamy - my mom and I had a few words. But we'll leave it at that. I couldn't find my credit card, but I suspect it remained at Wendy's from Monday night. I read some really good books.

Wednesday: I went to the dermatologist, and I have no cancerous moles. Hooray! Then I went boating with my sisters. Hooray! I found some clay on the bottom of the lake and made a little penguin. I took a picture, but it is currently locked in the inaccessible depths of my cellphone.

Thursday (today): I had an interview for a job at the math tutoring center. It went really, really well - the lady interviewing me said she was impressed at how much math I remembered over a two-year hiatus, and how I was able to turn to the exact page in the reference textbooks to find what I was looking for. She offered me the job, yay! The big tangible benefit is that I apparently get a half-tuition waiver, but the intangible benefit is that it is one step closer to my dream job of being a teacher. I am so, so excited. Anyway, then I took my mom out to a doctor's appointment and totally bought four Jack Johnson CD's and a Donavon Frankenreiter CD. :)

To explain the title of the post: grad school, tutoring job, watching my life go in the direction I've been dreaming of for the last seven years. I am living the dream. Thanks, Heavenly Father!

Boating

So I almost got up on waterskis today. I just couldn't quite keep the tips together long enough. I'm thinking, though, is one ski easier than two?

Also, I didn't get sunburned at all (that I've noticed so far, anyway). This is rather remarkable.

Finally, the world will not stop going up and down, and it's kind of disorienting.

Jeans

So today I went to Old Navy to exchange some jeans.

You see, I bought two pair of jeans when I returned home from my mission, seeing that both pairs I brought out with me had died a noble death from being worn 34682493 times. (That's a lot.) They seemed to fit adequately, and I went home relatively happy.

When I got home and actually wore the jeans more, however, I noticed that while they fit nicely in the waist and through the lower leg, they were so tight in the thigh as to make putting my wallet and cellphone in my pockets rather uncomfortable, if not positively onerous. I concluded that I had purchased somewhat defective pairs of jeans, and so resolved to exchange them.

So I arrived at Old Navy and found several pair of painter's jeans, the jeans I've been wearing for probably a good ten years. They have always treated me well, and have always been my favorite jeans. I went to the dressing room and tried them on. Being more well-informed this time, and knowing what to look for, I made sure to put my wallet in the pocket of each pair I tried on.

The results were rather disappointing. These jeans I tried on were just as tight through the thigh as the ones I was intending to return, and my wallet was pressed just as uncomfortably into my leg.

I have, therefore, postulated the following hypotheses:
a) Old Navy has changed their jean cuts to reflect the growing trend of lame emo kids wanting to wear girl pants, and therefore, even their "relaxed" fit jeans are now not as comfortable as they once were.
b) I developed over-large thighs from too much walking and biking on my mission.
c) Both a) and b).
d) Penguins are pretty cool, as are dinosaurs (especially the utahraptor).

I think we can throw out d), since it is clearly irrelevant to our current discussion, so I think that option c) is the most correct here. So, my faithful readers, I ask: Where can I go to buy jeans that are actually loose through the thigh, instead of just saying they are loose through the thigh while they are in fact conforming to the girl-pants trend?

Thanking you in advance,
Me

The fragile equilibrium of a skid-steer

So today at my dad's work, I was driving a skid-steer around. Fun times! We are levelling out a large dirt pile and putting it in this ditch over this ginormous steel pipe. So I had a big bucketful of dirt and rocks and cinder blocks and heaven only knows what, and I was on my way over to the ditch to dump it out.

Now, skid-steers don't have any sort of suspension, so if you go over a bump, they rock back and forth like a bucking bronco. However, they have a fairly low center of gravity, so usually you are all right.

Unless, of course, you have a heavy bucketful of dirt, rocks, cinder blocks and nameless yard waste, and you are carrying said bucketful way higher than normal bucket position. Such a course of behavior raises the center of gravity significantly and puts it rather far out to the front.

I'm sure you can see where this is going.

I can has grad school?, or, The Letter

Dear Spencer:

The Mathematics Department Graduate Admissions Committee has completed its review of your file and has unanimously agreed to admit you to the MS program in mathematics for Fall Semester 2008. ...

Sincerely,
Kenneth Bromberg
Director of Graduate Recruitment

--------

I CAN HAS GRAD SCHOOL!!1!1!!!oneone

Good news

Last night was way fun, but I'll direct you to Erin's account for the videos, since I don't have them and words won't do justice to the jam-flipping thing. :D

Today was a day full of doing stuff regarding my grad school application. I called the graduate program coordinator at the math department, and she said she handed my file to the guy who reviews the applications. Hurrah!

I went out to SLCC to get the transcript I needed to submit with my applications (yes, plural - I'm applying both for graduate studies and non-matriculated status, just in case I can't get in the math program), and then headed up to the U to turn them in. The lady said that since I was submitting both at once, I didn't need to pay both application fees, just the one. Hurrah again!

Then when I returned home from watching my friend play Crysis (cool enough game so far, but I'm not all that impressed, honestly - maybe I'll give an unofficial review later), I checked my email and found an email from the third professor I asked to write me a letter of recommendation! Hurrah once more!

So basically, grad school is looking more and more possible. :) oh, and the jam things at Village Inn can be made into a toy

Music

I am currently importing all my CD's into iTunes and putting them on my new/used iPod. I had forgotten how totally rad my CD collection is.

*hums happily to himself about his Snow Patrol CD*

Complications

Just FYI, it is ridiculously complicated to get an application in to grad school.

This third professor I emailed just got back to me and said she won't be able to write me a letter of recommendation within the next 45 days because she is moving across country. So this leaves me one letter short. Do I submit the application without it, or try to badger somebody else into doing it? Hmmm.

Also, I can't seem to find my copy of my GRE score report, but if memory serves me right, I may have had it automatically submitted to the university. Hopefully this is the case.

BTW, the two professors I was trying to get a hold of were finally in their offices and said they would write the letters. Yay!

Disappointment

First off, happy notes from today: I bought Erin's 4gig iPod nano for $90, and I just watched the Bourne Identity. Sweet movie, but I'm still kinda confused.

So today I decided I'd get crack-a-lackin' on the grad school application. Two-ish weeks ago, I emailed three of my old professors to see if they'd write me letters of recommendation. I still haven't heard from any of them. Since I had spare time and the car today, I decided to do some errand-running. First I went out to the community college to get some transcripts and see if my one math teacher was there, which she wasn't. Sweet.

Up to the U I go and knock on the three professors' doors. None of them answered. Excellent.

I went over to the undergrad advisor's office to see if she knew if any of them were in town, and she said she'd seen one of them, but hadn't seen the other in a long while and knew that the third was on sabbatical this past year. Great!

So then I went up to the department office to talk to the graduate program coordinator and ask her how late they would possibly process an application. She was busy when I first got up there, so I was chatting with the secretary (who still totally remembers me from when I was a student there), and she said that the one professor is in California and she's not sure if he's coming back, let alone when (Rad!). She said that she had seen the other two professors around, though, which is a small bonus.

Then the graduate program coordinator became un-busy. She said that the professor who reviews the applications is out of town and she doesn't know when he'll be back (Awesome!), and recommended that I ask the college admissions office to see when their absolute deadline is. And she would like my application across her desk in the next few days. Rock on!

So I head over to the admissions office, and find out that the absolute deadline is July 31, as in, a week from Thursday. Woo!

To sum: I have to get three letters of recommendation from professors who may or may not even be in the country, let alone the state, give them with my now-complete application for graduate school to the coordinator in the next few days, and hope that she can track down the chairman to have him review the application. Then I hope I get admitted to the mathematics program, and then I hope that all this happens before July 31 so I can get an application in to the college.

Make sure that if you leave a comment, that you leave it loud, so that I can hear it over the cold, icy tinkling noise of my shattering dreams.

okay fine it's not that bad, I can still get in next year, and I will still put in an application to be an undergrad student this year, I just really wanted grad school this semester.

Update: The professor who was in California just emailed me and said he won't be able to write a letter. Hoorah.

T-shirts

Oh my gosh. My friend Ben just sent me to this website called Threadless (WARNING: DO NOT CLICK if you are a compulsive buyer of rad t-shirts! Significant wallet emptying may occur). I am sorely tempted.

And now I wish I had more money.

The pleasures and pitfalls of owning a freakin' sweet vacuum cleaner

So while I was gone, my parents bought a Dyson Animal vacuum cleaner. This thing freakin' rules. It glides along the floor instead of sticking to it so hard you feel you have to shove it along, it's rather quiet for a vacuum cleaner, and it leaves your carpets sparkling clean. And every time I say to myself, "Self, I think it would be really cool if this vacuum cleaner did this and such," I start toying around with it and BY GOLLY IT DOES. I tell you, this vacuum cleaner makes vacuuming as fun as Strong Bad makes drawing.

But having a freakin' sweet vacuum cleaner isn't all fun and games. For instance, yesterday, I decided that I was going to go on a room cleaning spree. I've been gone for two years, I don't think anyone's ever vacuumed under my bed, and there is so much accumulated shiz on my shelves that I can't even tell what color they are under all the stuff on them. Oh, and I wanted to put my CD's up on my chest of drawers instead of downstairs on the bookcase. So I get to cleaning, and my new elders quorum presidency stops by, and I get back to cleaning, and I finally get to the point where everything is off my shelves and I am ready to vacuum them off. (So much dust!) So I walk on over to the closet where we keep the vacuum, and I open up the door, and the vacuum is not there. Mom, where's the vacuum? Oh, Cara took it home with her so she could vacuum her house. Way to go, vacuum thief! (In her defense, her vacuum cleaner is apparently broken.) So, pitfall #1: people will abscond with your vacuum cleaner if you aren't continually vigilant, watching it like a hawk watches the little mouse he's about to dive on, or like my nephew Sam watches the new remake of American Gladiators, which is to say, intently and with rapt concentration. It is now about 10:00pm, but I am in Room Cleaning Mode 3000^TM, and I cannot rest, I cannot sleep for an instant, until I finish vacuuming off my shelves.

So I decided to get the vacuum from my sister's house. I make the short trip over there, and she hasn't yet vacuumed the rooms she wanted to vacuum with it, so being the kind, considerate and caring individual that I am, I cracked the proverbial whip and made her vacuum them so I could finish what I was doing. Just kidding, I vacuumed most of her kitchen, but then she took over. (Aside: Who puts carpet in their kitchen? Crazy people who add a kitchen on in the mid-70's and cover it with hideous yellow-flowered wallpaper, that's who.)

I finally got my shelves vacuumed off and all the crap off my bed and went to sleep (after, I should mention, I watched Vantage Point at my sister's house). The next morning (being this morning), I woke up and went back to the cleaning that I didn't get around to last night, ie. vacuuming the floor and getting all the marks off the walls.

Pitfall #2: When you have a freakin' sweet vacuum cleaner that totally works really well, it pulls a disgustingly voluminous amount of dust, dirt and unidentifiable filth out of your carpets, and dumps it into a clear container on the front of your vacuum. Ew? At least you can tell it's working, I guess. I would say that between the regular floor, the area under my bed, and the dust refugee camp that is my closets, I got a dust ball that was probably equivalent in volume to your average cantaloupe, or perhaps a small watermelon. It's hard to say, because our freakin' sweet vacuum cleaner has an easy-empty feature (pleasure!) that I employed several times during the vacuuming marathon.

But overall, I would say that the pleasures of having a clean carpet and getting it clean in an exceedingly cool manner FAR outweigh the pitfalls of vacuum thievery and accumulated grossness.

Interesting

Today was an interesting day, filled with many and varied adventures.

It began at 5:00am, when I awoke to prepare to go to the temple at 7:00. The temple was marvelous. I decided not to wear my ankle brace to keep things uncomplicated, and it actually didn't hurt too much. It was really nice to get back to the temple, and wouldn't you know it, I totally learned something.

It continued with a trip up to my brother-in-law's office at Farmington to pick up passes for free tickets to tomorrow's Blaze game, and then a trip down to the Delta Center Energy Solutions Arena box office to redeem said pass. That's right, I have two free tickets to the 18th row of the first round of the AFL playoffs. Nice. (Anybody want the other one? I'm sure we'll find good use for it if not, but y'know.)

Then we find me back at home base for a quick lunch, then going out with the missionaries. I know, I'm such a sucker for missionary work right now. The appointment went well, it was with a nice lady named Dora from Guatemala. The one elder, Elder Parkes, is pretty cool, but the other, Elder Downing, is very quiet and reserved. Probably just because Elder Parkes is more outgoing. But anyway.

When I returned from my missionarying, I found a UPS InfoNotice on the door. Apparently they had tried for the second time to deliver my new phone, but we weren't here, and they were unable to accept the last InfoNotice that we signed and stuck to the door because it requires a signature in person. The InfoNotice said that they would try to redeliver on Monday, but unfortunately, we are not going to be in town on Monday. So I called up the UPS people and they said they would hold it for me at the hub, but I would have to pick it up between 7:00 and 7:30. Remember that, it becomes important later.

Then I went swimming with two of my sisters and their kids. It was fun! I noticed (far too late of course) that during the course of shaving my chest (look, it makes things a lot more comfortable), I totally missed a spot. :S Oh well, it was still fun. I still suck at swimming, but it was amusing to goof off in the pool with my nieces and nephews.

Afterwards, we went (in swimsuits (with dress-type covers for the ladies for modesty's sake, tyvm)) to the Distribution Center because my sister needed to get a copy of the video Called to Serve. We also ended up getting several copies of the new First Presidency picture.

Then I came home again and we had dinner. And then I noticed that it was 7:08 and I still needed to pick up my cellphone from the UPS hub which is probably like 20 minutes away. HI-YO SILVER!!! I made it to like 20th West and 21st South or so in under 20 minutes, because I rule and there was no traffic. What time did the UPS hub close again? That's right, 7:30. And what time did I get there? That's right, 7:29, baby. I fetching rule.

And so does my new phone, as I discovered when I got it home and started playing with it. It has the capability to talk to wireless routers, and apparently whenever you're connected to a wireless router, your calls are free and don't count towards your airtime. And since it just so happens that we have a wireless router here... Score!

And then I watched Numbers, which I have definitely missed watching over the past two years. Good thing my sister got me a copy of one of the seasons I missed for my birthday. :D

And now you have made it to the very end of this very long post. Good job. You get a cookie. No, not a real one.