Star Guitar

It's been a month since I last said hello. Hello again.

It's been a bit busy with school and shit. Some things have gotten a bit more complicated while some other things have been resolved.

For instance, I know where I am going to school.I vacillated till the last minute until finally someone convinced me. Now I am very relieved that the die has been cast.So onwards and upwards it is. It feels great to be courted by universities and it sucks to say no to great programs.

One of my finals yesterday was the epitome of crap. I was writing out answers which I knew were substandard but I couldn't do much about it. My brain was like a bowlful of jelly, concepts mashed up together, neurobiology all confused..... Gaaah :( If I can pass I'll be very happy. I know I am usually a bit dramatic with my academics and all but trust me on this one guys.

I am prolly taking time off this summer. I was supposed to do research somewhere but shall be spending time with family and friends instead.

The weather is great, things are on the move albeit in complicated ways, am a bit tired....

How've you guys been?

The Gulls Are Here In The Age of Facebook

Howdy y'all?

For the past couple of days I have been silently screaming to myself "The Gulls are coming! The Gulls are coming!" As annoying as those loathsome and vicious creatures are, their arrival is a harbinger of spring, of tulips, of warmer climes, and of flip-flops.

One can hear, with increasing frequency, their screeches and squawks. I can't say that they are omnipresent yet, but the day is not far, when a whole entourage will flock around a hapless student as he/she harmlessly aims to enjoy a muffin in the quad. These gulls are quite vicious; they fight amongst themselves over pieces of dirty leftovers, chase each other around over a piece of carrot muffin and haggle over garbage! Stoopid birds.

But nevertheless, it warms my glacial hear that this city is finally going to see warmer climate again. Thought that it would not be possible, given the amounts of snow we've received thus far. It seems a little aberrant: steadily increasing temperatures coupled with the piles of dirty snow that yet litter this fair city. Soon iridescent tulips will replace the dirt snow. Magnolias will be out in full bloom. Apple cherries will dot this Victorian campus. Beautiful lasses and handsome lads will shed their clothes and so will I! My city is uber fashionable. It is really a sight to behold the pretty people as they flit about oh-so-nonchalantly. I am going to miss people watching in cafes! We have disproportionate number of 24 hr cafes, which I miss in other cities. Last summer, I totally missed them in Boston. Like seriously, the medical area didn't have a single 24 hr cafe. Doctors do not get good grades by not pulling all-nighters.

Anyways, onwards....

I am not sure if you guys are aware of this but a Canadian university has been in the news lately for almost expelling a student over the creation of Facebook study group. Apparently answers were exchanged on the wall of the group and ergo the university was deliberating about expelling the founder of the group.

Here's a pretty decent report of the goings-on:

http://www.nationalpost.com/news/canada/story.html?id=377541

The crazy reach and utilitarian nature of the internet is clearly making life miserable for some people while facilitating the lives of others. One man's meat is another man's poison. While freedom of speech is all well and good, what most people forget is that with the liberty comes a lot of responsibility. And I for one, believe that my generation takes a lot of these liberties for granted and flagrantly abuses them. I support institutions being cagey about issues such as plagiarism and cheating in this highly techy age. However, the technology that has made filching another person's idea easy has also made it easier to detect such violations. I believe if stuffy ole unis got on with the times, they'd find that the 21st century had made policing and life easier for them too. But both sides have to exercise caution and restraint on using this new found freedom that the digital era affords us.

As far as the case of expelling the kid goes, I don't think he should be expelled at all. If answers were given out on a mass distribution basis, action should be taken against those who did it (give the perpetrators a warning or something), however the founder of the group should be left alone. I think virtual study groups are a great collaborative idea, and honestly who are we kidding, on most assignments when ppl stumble on questions they eventually ask someone for help and in most cases get the answers anyways. Professors know and understand this.

Assignments are a way to make ppl understand and appreciate the material. One of my profs would hand us our first drafts back with comments as to how to improve or correct attempts and would only grade us on our second draft. Needless to say almost everyone got a perfect on their assignments. However, she'd kill us on her midterms and finals, which honestly weren't that bad. She'd show us one way of thinking via the assignments and she'd expect some originality and creativity under pressure during finals.Not too much to ask for. Also she is a fantastic prof so it's hard not understand the material well when she teaches.

Anyways to end this tangent, I want to thank those who pitched in with their comments for the previous post. I am prolly gonna make up my mind once the end of this month comes around.I'll surely let y'all know.

Happy Easter weekend folks. I am going home after such a long time... am excited... plus pater is away! And you know what they say... when pater is away the mice will play!

Cheers!

p.s. -I tried a different sexual act over the weekend, reportage to follow.

A Question For You + Current Soundtrack Of My Life

I am strongly feeling the urge to procrastinate. Plus I need your help.

I am quite torn between choosing grad schools and I can almost hear some of you go, "Not again!" But honestly, I am not trying to rub it in or gloat or anything. I'd really appreciate it if y'all could pitch in. So here goes

School A

Pros: Powerhouse program,great depth and breadth in offerings, way more funding than other schools, collegial atmosphere, great, not gilded, name

Cons:Ok town.

School B



Pros:Great program( just slightly less great than A's),department focus compatible with my interests, interesting electives, nice town, gilded name and considered a powerhouse on the whole.

Cons:Not much funding, not very collegial

What do y'all think. Does the strength of one school's program sway me or should the overall package influence my decision?

I am very fortunate that I am spoiled for choice.

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In other news, I am in love with vocal trance. It's sexy and uplifting.

A couple of songs that I have been listening to on repeat :

Always a Fool by Kyau and Albert

Empty Street by Late Night Alumni


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The cutest boy walked in to my lab as a participant.When he responded to my ad, I sensed some sort of gay vibe from his response, it was overtly cheery or something, so I v ery creepily FB-ed him and turns out that he is gay and quite the looker. He is very cute in person too boot and has a nice sense of humor and is single! I found out all this thanks to the detailed interview that I conduct as a part of the study. Ain't my research fun? Honestly it's a long drawn medical study.

Damn these fine looking men who dot my fair city. I have thrown manners and caution to the wind and have begun blatantly scrutinising them blokes.

Hope you are having a good Sunday folks. Someone wants to hook up with me but I am not in the mood. meh.

Curiosity needn't kill the cat

So I should be studying for my Orgo and Econ midterms which are both next week, but whateva, I'll post.

Thank you everyone for your congratulations. I am pretty stoked myself.

I got a very positive response from another graduate school. So far it's 3/3. Yay!
Of the stuffy, pompous schools that've accepted me I like their approach the best. It was a fantastically personalised email that they sent me. The missive outlined some of my research interests and information on how I could collaborate with certain professors at that school, with links to their homepages, links to newsletters, papers et al. They've also stated their scholarship package which is noteworthy because the other schools that've accepted me are still in the throes of making scholarship decisions. The only drawback: It's the least strong of the schools I applied to. It has a wonderful name and great connections to provide fo sho, but....

I am a bit torn, but whateva they're all like top 10, top 5 and top 3. I am sure I'll get a great education at either of the three, but only two of them can provide me with a great social life. I am very happy with all my options.

So, in other news,apparently, I flagrantly defy authority.I got called in to my boss's office because my supervisors at work feel that I am not subordinate enough. Apparently my questions are quite cutting and reflective of a need for additional explanation and rationale implying that what the supervisors say is not good enuff the first time. But that's not the case at all. The thing is that I am just curious by nature. I don't bombard people with questions, but I do ask more questions than average, I have a quivering mind, what can I say... And I don't think that's a drawback at all. My curious mind is my armour, it's the only thing I can fall back on to ensure that I succeed in graduate school, at work, at life....
Well, I guess I'll ask a few less questions. That's why I like hanging out with older folks, they love my questions.

People who aren't sure about themselves find questions annoying. Questions make the world go around. Curiosity definitely doesn't need to kill the cat. In classes and such people tend to refrain from asking questions; that's like the stupidest thing ever. If you have a doubt clarify it, ask out loud. If you only wanna show off , keep shut.I have no qualms in looking stupid initially if at the end I come out smelling like roses.

At this point I am very curious about the idea of making a time capsule filled with ideas of what my friends want to do with their lives, how they envision the future to play out, and then reopen the capsule later like on our 25th class reunion. I think it'd be interesting.That life is filled with vagaries,is what the capsule would demonstrate, I bet.

This city is totally out of whack! We got so much snow last week it's crazy shit.WTH. It's March for crying out loud! It really doesn't help that none of the schools I'll be going to in the fall are in cities that get a fair bit of snow.

To make myself feel warm and fuzzy these are the people I look at:

Anthony Ames

Matt Walton

They both starred in a movie called 200 American.The movie itself was a bit mediocre, meh.Am not sure if either of them is gay. Anthony Ames has inspired me to get into shape before grad school. I am intend on losing 20 lbs. Come the summer, I am gonna bike and bike a lot at that.My summer plans are still up in the air. I have been offered a pretty awesome internship at an awesome university.The city where I'll have to relocate to is pretty residential so I might just end up getting a bike and biking everywhere. The details are still being worked out. It's a bit confusing.But I am thankful.

Wednesday is here. By now you should know who your're hooking up with this weekend.

Graduate Schools Speak Out

So I haven't posted in a while. Not due to a lack of activity but due to an overwhelmingly large amount of activity.Senior year is truly crazy. As the sun sets on my undegrad career and some things come to fruition, a sense of validation is beginning to engulf me. Things are gradually drawing to a close.

The curtains have been drawn faster than usual, this past week, as my grad school decisions have been trickling in. I only applied to 4 schools. So far I've heard from two and I 've been accepted to both. Needless to say I am very elated, excited and somewhat overwhelmed.

I came to know about my first acceptance on Wednesday. I had just finished watching Episode 12 of Brothers and Sisters, and decided to check my email. An email from one of my grad schools lay comfortably in my inbox, while my heart literally leaped out of my chest. There were many anxiety filled moments as I went to the admissions home page and filled in my PIN and password.I was accepted! Yay!
So relieved! I immediately called my mom and my dad and they were both very happy.That news left me in a bit of stupor. I was relieved but not as happy as I thought I'd be,I just couldn't believe it. So I went in to work, feeling pleasant though not elated.

My friends were super excited when I told them about it, and I only began to feel genuinely happy and appreciative yesterday.

And today, after two hours of sleep when I opened my inbox I noticed an email from the hardest grad school I had applied to. I was a bit surpised since I had just spoken with them yesterday and they had informed me that decisions wouln't be emailed before next Wednesday.This time I wasn't as anxious going through the links as I knew I had gotten accepted elsewhere. I didn't have many expectations from this school, cuz I didn't meet all their criteria etc. But lo and behold! I have been accepted here too! At this point I am a mixture of overwhelmed, numb, ecstatic, relieved, stupefied, incredulous, speechless and...and....

My parents and friends and profs are very proud and ecstatic, two of my friends have it on their FB status. It's so unbelievably nice to share your joy with others and see it spread cheer among people you care for.

Now I have only two more decisions waiting to come in. I am not very worried about stuff any more.

I want to thank you guys for bearing with my petulant, anxious self for the past few months. Thanks for your support and encouragement with many aspects of my private life, everything from telling my dad, to fretting about grad school admissions.

It's such a sense of validation, these acceptances are, well at least, for my cerebral powers. The schools I got into are some of the hardest to get into in the world so I am really thrilled.But, on some level I do feel a bit undeserving. I really didn't apply myself as much and there are people who worked way harder that I did. But anyways....The fact that my mom is overjoyed really makes me feel happy. God only knows how few and far between joyous occasions have been for her.

I am so, so, so relieved; you guys have no idea. I am not going to have nightmares of rejection letters anymore. Yay for acceptances. Good luck to those who are still waiting to hear back.


Happy weekend.