As I stated in an earlier post, I mentioned that I had an announcement to make.

Basically, check out my new toy!

(more…)

It’s probably a good thing I didn’t try putting together some sort of drinking game with my friends for George Bush’s speech tonight. The final tally? He said “freedom” 21 times! Oh yes. We probably would have ran out of alcohol long before the speech was over. Or we would have expired due to alcohol poisoning. Anyway, what various pieces of information did he leave us with? Basically nothing. However, it’s interesting to note his arguments against a timetable or ANY sort of plan to exit Iraq.

Some contend that we should set a deadline for withdrawing U.S. forces. Let me explain why that would be a serious mistake. Setting an artificial timetable would send the wrong message to the Iraqis, who need to know that America will not leave before the job is done. It would send the wrong signal to our troops, who need to know that we are serious about completing the mission they are risking their lives to achieve.

Wait a minute. What has Bush previously said about timetables?

April 1999 – “Victory means exit strategy, and it’s important for the president to explain to us what the exit strategy is.”

June 1999 – “I think it’s also important for the president to lay out a timetable as to how long they will be involved and when they will be withdrawn.”

October 2000 – “I’m going to be judicious as to how to use the military. It needs to be in our vital interest, the mission needs to be clear, and the exit strategy obvious.”

I guess that ultimately doesn’t matter now does it? Of course with all the lies he has told us in the past, I guess it shouldn’t be surprising.

March 6, 2003 – Saddam Hussein has a long history of reckless aggression and terrible crimes. He possesses weapons of terror. He provides funding and training and safe haven to terrorists — terrorists who would willingly use weapons of mass destruction against America and other peace-loving countries. Saddam Hussein and his weapons are a direct threat to this country, to our people, and to all free people.

Identity Theft
Since this is my political rant and raving section for the time being, I have another interesting note. After my post about identity theft in April, I wrote both Senators Diane Feinstein and Barbara Boxer, asking them what they are doing about the horrible rash of identity theft. They both responded to me! Well, at least someone using their individual email addresses responded to me. Regardless, it was quite nice to be able to contact our government officials and get a relevant response from them.

Granted, their responses basically just rehashed previous bills they have proposed in the Senate to make the punishments for identity theft tougher and nothing on what they are doing in the future. There really needs to be something done about how intrinsically linked all our private information is to the internet. It makes it too easy to crack these things and the fines and punishments aren’t obviously deterring people.

Allegedly, Mark Twain once said “the coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in San Francisco.” (Various sources dispute that he was the one who actually said it, but it’s been attributed to him regardless of whether he said it or not)

I’m beginning to see why. I’m currently in the midst of my first real summer in San Francisco and let’s just say that “sunny” is definitely not the way to describe it. Before the summer solstice, things were beautiful up here. Clear days, not too much wind, good temperatures. I took full advantage of spending time outside and exploring Golden Gate Park. Now I’m glad that I have.

I’ve heard summers up here leave quite a bit to be desired. It’s crazy. Once summer “officially” began (right after the summer solstice), we have not had one single clear day yet. Up here on the hill, we’ve been socked in fog every single day. And it’s COLD. However, my friends and family back home in Southern California are dealing with temperatures upwards of 100 degrees. Oh yes!

That said, I still love it up here. The rest of the year has been absolutely perfect. So I guess I can put up with 2 months of crappy “summer.” Though it’s interesting to note that when I visited my sister during the summer before I moved up here, that I had always managed to come on beautiful weekends. So there’s definitely hope.

I had an interesting experience earlier today (err… yesterday now). I took part in a usability study for a company called Six Apart, testing some software and offering feedback. For an hour’s worth of work, I was paid handsomely! That was definitely a nice injection of cash. Thank goodness for Dot Coms and their seemingly limitless bank accounts (I need to find a way to get involved with Google, now that they are worth over $80 billion dollars). I also had to sign a Non-Disclosure Agreement, which makes the work I did sound like its top secret and dangerous. 😉

(Though now that I think about it, I’ve actually worked with a few companies that have required me to fill out NDAs, all of them technology firms: Electronic Arts, Breakaway / Firaxis Games and Six Apart Inc.)

This weekend, I’m doing a 4 day long backpacking trip with Meghan and her Dad and Step-Mom (as well as some of their friends) in the Trinity Alps. That is going to be exciting (plus I’ve only been in the Trinity’s one other time and remember it being absolutely beautiful). And yes, I know… my friends have already jokingly warned me that I should be prepared in case her Dad tries to stab me with a kitchen knife. So I guess it’s a good thing I have previous experience in dealing with that. 😛

Anyway, I should go to bed. I’m doing an excellent job in destroying my sleep schedule. (I’ve been sleeping from something like 3AM to 11AM every day)

The next time I post, I need to mention an interesting purchase that I recently made (with the help of my parents). Some people already know about it.

Let’s just say “OS X.” 😉

I’m alive! Actually, there was never any doubt as to whether or not I was alive, but as far as this blog is concerned, I have been dead for the past month. It was a combination of things: finals in school, then the week long research trip, then time to laze around, then lack of ambition to actually even write anything in the first place.

So, for those of you who still check this web site, I believe an update is in order. (more…)

This month has been horribly busy with all sorts of school work.

Last weekend, our volcanology class took a field trip to Northern California. Pictures are here. I also filmed a video of some of our antics in the snow. It’s a 5mb download.

The trip ended up being one of the best geology field trips I’ve ever had in a class. Got to explore a bunch of lava tubes and was just an all around great trip, with a great group of people. Of course there was the near death experience of a bullet going off in our camp fire one night (evidentially there was a bullet that was buried in a pile of pine needles that I threw on the fire).

Despite all of us standing around the campfire, the only casualty was a wine bottle sitting on a small table that had an entrance and exit hole (where no one happened to be standing)! Thank goodness.

I have a HUGE lecture final in Petrology tomorrow that I don’t feel too prepared for. Just anxious to get it over with. The petrology lab examination is on Thursday and Volcanology final on Wednesday night.

Almost finished with my last two papers as well.

Next week I am going to Utah and Arizona with a professor and a few fellow students for a research trip. Hopefully that will give me some ideas to work on for my senior thesis.

And when I return from the trip, I will be able to move into a new room! Oh yes!

I usually handle stress quite well. I’ve always been quite a laid back individual and things don’t usually get to me. Lately though, I think stress is beating the crap out of me. My stomach has hurt this whole week (I initially thought I was getting sick) and I’ve had some fairly horrid headaches.

I think it’s a combination of things that are just hitting me at the same exact time: the amount of school work the next 3 weeks, shitty financial situation (and school DEFINITELY isn’t conducive to making it better at the moment) and various people. I’ve had A LOT on my mind lately and really no way to let it out or vent. Not sure why I keep all this bottled up inside me. It’s definitely not healthy.

Anyway, I leave for a field trip to Mendicino tomorrow night to look at soils (oh yay).

Tomorrow afternoon is the College of Science and Engineering Student Research Showcase. Something like 150 students from the college will be showing off posters of their work. I’ve spent to past 3 days designing mine and printed it out today. It’s 3 feet by 4 feet! But it is an AWESOME thing to behold. The first real poster that I’ve made for one of these events (these poster presentations are a big thing in science for some reason).

Next week is a massive field trip. 4 days up to the Lassen Volcanic National Park. I’m definitely looking forward to that. I fell like it’s the culmination of this whole year. Definitely a fun group of people too.

Here are some random (but VIVID) dreams I’ve had the past few nights:

*Tuesday Night – Family was on a vacation to Mexico City for some reason. We were staying in some swanky resort in the (tropical?) mountains around the city and looking down into the heavy smog (evidentially, it has atrocious air). Anyway, Michelle wanted to go shopping in town, so I offered to go with her. So we drove… A SHOPPING CART. Yes, we drove a shopping cart into town.

Where we passed a large commune of gay and lesbian punk rockers who left America to escape persecution. Bizarre, I know. But it gets better! We decide to visit the commune and see they are trying to live in a very environmentally friendly way. They have large compost piles. I walk up to see how their compost is doing (err… no clue why, perhaps its related to geology somehow?) and find that they are decomposing material by covering it with BATTERY ACID. Weird.

Anyway, I don’t remember the rest of it.

*Wednesday Night –
Dream 1: I was looking for a new apartment or place to live. For some reason, I decided to live in Beverly Hills (yet still go to school at SFSU?) on this small street with a bunch of movie stars. I found an awesome little mansion and called my parents to have them buy it for me. When they told me no, I threatened to never talk to them again! Weird!

Dream 2: Someone discovered this weird creature called a “mind worm” (I think I’ve played too much Alpha Centauri in my life…) that crawls inside your head if you have a tumor and EATS AWAY your brain tumors. Apparently it’s perfectly safe. Of course, the only way to know if you have a brain tumor is if these mind worms crawl after you. They smell them or something. But they crawl after you and enter through your nose!

So in my dream, apparently EVERYONE had brain tumors, because everyone I know was telling me about their mind worms and how I should “get some.” Then I remember running down the street with this “herd” of worms squirming after me… wanting to eat my brain basically. WEIRD.

I honestly think there is something in the water I drink. Or maybe it’s the stress? I also have a hunch that a lack of sleep (I’ve been sleeping 5-6 hours a night lately! Ack) contributes to these crazy dreams.

Can’t wait to go to sleep tonight!

Anyway, until next time.

I was up in Sacramento this past weekend for the California State University’s Student Research Competition as a finalist in the Physical and Mathematical Sciences category. 190 students representing 23 different schools were participating! Pretty awesome event overall.

Anyway, we each had 10 minutes to present a Powerpoint Presentation and talk about our research topics. My presentation, entitled “Mapping the existence and extent of mid-crustal reflectors in the San Gabriel Mountains of Southern California” (It’s an unwritten rule in science to have the longest possible title in the world. Longer titles evidentially means you are cooler), was completely rock solid.

It was very well put together, designed great and flowed well too. I even had humor interjected in parts and the judges on my panel were laughing! Plus, it was actually fairly interesting (it has to do with earthquakes). I completed the presentation in EXACTLY 10 minutes, right as the moderator held up the sign for me to stop speaking. The judges then proceeded to ask me some questions and I had no problems answering them. In short, I knew my stuff!

After checking out the competition in my category (2 physics majors and 3 mathematicians, plus myself… a dirty geologist), I figured I had the competition in the bag. People were also telling me afterwards how much they liked my presentation too.

Anyway, Lockheed Martin sponsored a few of the science and engineering categories (and put up prize money for the winners), including mine. Both judges on my panel were theoretical physicists, one of whom works for Lockheed Martin.

So fast forward to the awards ceremony the next day. Second place went to one of the physics students, whose research delt with modeling various lasers. Awesome I thought. I knew for a fact that I did way better than he did! Then they call the name for first place. “Funny,” I thought to myself, “that name they just called didn’t sound like ‘Dave.'”

Nope, it was the other physics major! Gah! I guess that’s what I get for being so cocky, but in all honesty I don’t understand what went wrong, or what their selection criteria was. I was quite surprised, as were a number of other people. It was absolutely ridiculous.

Then again, I guess it would make sense that Lockheed Martin, the biggest military weapons manufacturer in the world (and as a result, the biggest exporter of death and destruction), is going to like someone’s research that could potentially have military applications (lasers!) over my research that has practical applications in using earthquakes to map/locate FUTURE earthquake hazards.

So yeah, I’m somewhat sour. Then again though, I did make it all the way to the finals and got to represent my school in my category. So at the very least, that is still quite an accomplishment.

This just means I should start new research this summer, and be ready to take the competition next year.

Yay for universal internet access! I’m currently at a hotel in Sacramento and running my old laptop.

The CSU Student Research Competition is tomorrow and it looks like it’s going to be pretty big. A few people from SF State, including the Dean of Graduate Studies were here tonight. We all had dinner together and then practiced our presentations in front of each other.

We received quite a bit of valuable feedback and some suggestions. So now I’m cleaning up a few things in my presentation and running through it a few times before tomorrow.

I initially ran through my presentation last night with Meghan. It was 13 minutes in length. Cutting the explanation of certain things today, I got it down to 10 minutes exactly (which is the requirement).

Now to commit the rest of it to memory!

We’ll see how it goes! Stay tuned. 🙂

Bear with me as my website undergoes schizophrenia while I try to design a new look for it in my spare time. In the meantime, enjoy this amazingly boring… blue.

Before I begin, I checked out this webpage using Safari (Apple program) and it basically looked like poo. Trying to code for all sorts of different browsers that don’t support standards gets quite frustrating. Of course my webpage doesn’t even pass a basic HTML validator test by W3C.org. I’ll have to get this in order soon.

Anyway, onto more interesting things!

On Friday night, Meghan took Michelle, David and I rock climbing. That was a blast as always. Michelle and David had a lot of fun and want to go back sometime. Michelle and David did better than I did the last time I went out. Definitely impressive! It made me pretty happy to see them do so well and like it a lot too. Watching Meghan was just awesome too. She knows how to tear up those walls. She’s a regular spider, or maybe a mountain goat? Maybe something more flattering, such as a… cliff-hopping penguin? Right…. Anyway, we brought the digital camera along also and documented the event. Check out the pics!

I helped David conduct a number of surveys for his senior thesis on Friday and Saturday. This involved sitting outside of a grocery store and asking people if they’d like to take a survey on recycling. A lot of interesting people and we seemed to average about 1 survey every 5 minutes or so, which isn’t bad at all.

Of course there were a few naturally angry people who automatically thought we were soliciting donations for money. One guy stormed off saying “Recycling? Bah! One day it’s save the trees, another it’s for the whales. Now it’s about recycling!” I noticed he was wearing a San Francisco Giants hat and briefly thought of telling him how much his baseball team sucks.

Other news:

• Student Research Competition in Sacramento on Friday – I think I have my presentation completely done. However it’s about 20 slides that have to be explained in 10 minutes. I might have to cut some things out, but I’m not sure what just yet. However, I feel very confident about what I have to say and think I can win my section.
• Paper due in Quaternary Geology on Wednesday. This paper was based on a weekend field trip we did at the beginning of April. As luck would have it, I’ve misplaced my field notebook that contains all the information I wrote down while we were on the trip. Gah!
• The College of Science and Engineering at SFSU is having a Student Research Showcase on Friday, May 6. I’m entering my project I did for the Southern California Earthquake Center into it (which is the same project I’m presenting in Sacramento). $500 for first place! We’ll see if I can pull that off. That’d be some excellent funds for New Zealand.

Anyway, the time is nigh to go to bed. Until next time!