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You lied to me CNN! Barack Obama didn’t spend his inauguration day giving speeches and eating at fancy luncheons, he was saving the day with his new partner: Spiderman! Dammit, I knew I liked this guy for a reason. How could I have missed something like that? Our President is a freakin superhero! And I was so sure that he was just your mild-mannered political upstart that changed history.

Well, though I might have been unaware of all of that, this much is for sure. Barack Obama isn’t wasting any time.

Just look at him! By the time he was 24 hours into his tenure as the President of the United States he put together a draft executive order to shut down Guantanamo Bay, froze terrorism trials so the system can be evaluated, cut the fiscal projections for White House staff by capping a number of salaries that are probably already paying these people more than they deserve, eliminated avenues through which political operators could remain incognito and by doing so ensuring a higher degree of transparency in Washington, spoke to the leaders of Egypt and Jordan, came down hard on lobbyists that want to work with this new government, set up a meeting to discuss a responsible withdrawal from Iraq, started up a committee to take action on the failing economy, and still had the time to share a luncheon with selected members of Congress (poor Teddy Kennedy), have his first dance with his wife as Mr. and Mrs. President, took the time to swear in a few cabinet members and he still probably found some time to get to sleep.

You know, of all the run on sentences in my life (and I’ve written a great many), I think I’m most proud of that one. It feels damn good to be an American right now. I mean, at this rate he should have this whole mess cleaned up by what? Next Tuesday? Well, you can sign me up for the “I’ve still got three years and fifty-one weeks left of my Presidency and jack-shit left to do” party he’s probably going to throw next week. I’ll have to pick up a six pack or two, but that’s okay, he’s worth it. It’s the least I can do for a guy who pal’s around with Spiderman.

Here’s lookin’ to the future. Cheers!

Politics Geek, obama, Politics

I have fallen absolutely head-over-heels in love with to-do lists. There’s a nice big one sitting out on my dining room table right now, in fact. It’s a standard letter sized sheet broken up into two columns, and it’s almost full of things that I either need to do before the end of break, or I have already done. The tasks that cover it  range from remarkable to mundane, from steps that will help solidify my future as a physicist to menial tasks like folding the laundry. So much potential! So many exciting things to do! And most importantly of all, so many things to cross off!

Lets be honest with ourselves here: nobody really cares about to-do lists themselves. It’s just the sense of accomplishment you get when you check something off of them. For me, it’s the knowledge that each time my red pen scratches out a line I am one step closer to not having anything to do. The sad reality of it all is - of course - that to-do lists invariably get filled up faster than they get checked off, so I probably won’t hit that blissful euphoria of nothingness until I’m curled up in my coffin, but insurmountable odds have never stopped me in the past and why should they start now? I mean hey, I ended up getting an A in that Fluids class, didn’t I?

I did, by the way.

Anyway, my to-do list is currently filled up with a number of fantastic little tidbits. On the docket for tomorrow is to meet with my professors, work on my thesis, put the next coat of paint on the sign blanks, buy some software for mi padre, and try to convince myself not to spend a ton of my money here. (I mean, come on?! How can you resist that? 649.95 for an Original Series Phaser? They’re practically giving them away!) After I get all of that done (and let’s face it, I’m going to fail miserably at the last one) I’ve got to buy an air mattress for this weekend’s trip to DC and figure out how to blog. Seriously Internet, I have no idea what you want, and since you got that restraining order it’s made it really hard for me to ask.

I suppose I’ll have to do some soul-searching. Needless to say, if that’s on my list, then there goes any chance I had of getting to that wonderful blissful state of nothing is gone forever.

*tear*

Random blogging, lists, procrastination

I have to admit that I’ve always been an on-again, off-again blogger. I’ll go through these periods where I post incessantly, and then a few months later forget that I even had a blog and ignore it for long periods of time. Even back in my glory days of blogging where my livejournal was ablaze with depressing emo posts about how few friends I had and how much I wished that I had a girlfriend I couldn’t keep it going at a steady pace. This point was emphasized when I ran across my old livejournal in an attempt to archive my youth and I read over some of those old posts. Wow. Terrifying. I will say that back in those days I was certainly blogging a lot more, so with any luck I’ll be able to work back to that. Blogging - like almost any activity - requires the direct application of muscle (in this case, the creative writing centers in my brain), and mine are currently atrophied. I’ll have to put together some kind of workout routine. As Chris always says “Every day, something. Even if it’s small, something every day.” Of course, I’ve never actually known him to say that - at least not outside of that blog post - but that doesn’t make it any less true.

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about what I want from my life. Some of it has been driven by the same nagging self doubt regarding my potential as a Physicist that drove me to stop blogging in the first place a month or two ago. When I got my GRE scores back for my Physics section I was stunned, the results were about a hundred and fifty points lower than I expected. What’s worse is that those expectations weren’t inflated due to some misplaced concerns for my ego, I had been taking practice exam after practice exam and repeatedly scored between 740 and 780 on them. Three unique full length exams taken the week before the real deal all landed in that range, yet somehow I still managed to end up with a 610. In the end, I suppose a combination of bad luck, nerves and an overactive bladder all conspired together to ruin that test, but needless to say it did a number of my confidence.

Over the past few weeks though, those concerns have diminished. I’ve filled out five applications to PhD programs thus far, and I’ve realized that those GRE score really are the only bad mark on my record. Even then, while they’re no means good, they’re not as bad as they could have been either. So onwards I go, back to the thinking about my life that I’ve been doing. What I’ve decided after these extensive periods of self-reflection (which I guess are important when you’re trying to sell yourself to grad school without actually lying) is that in order to prepare myself for the next stage of my life I need to start doing things differently. Over the past two years my motivation and drive has improved by leaps an bounds, I’ve gotten to a point where my work is done, and it’s done well. When I start a project I can generally finish it, but with certain things like this website and my secret project, I just haven’t been able to get them to a point where they’re moving along steadily. Maybe that’s a personal failing, perhaps I’m stuck living in a life that will be full of periods of productivity in an otherwise unproductive work cycle. I don’t think so though, so I’m going to make an effort to start changing that.

Enter this post, one of the many “recent” posts that have been little more than self-affirmation and a promise to do more with this site. Wish me luck interwebs, if this is going to work, I’m going to need all the luck I can get.

Self-Reflection Blog News, ramble, reflection

As I walked through the mall, waiting any way but patiently for my haircut I came across a rather disturbing sight. There, right in the center, nestled snugly in between JC Penny and Pac Sun sat a gigantic north pole mockup, complete with wreathes, Christmas trees, and a big green chair. The only thing that was missing was good old St. Nick. Of course that’s because even Santa Claus realizes that it’s too early for Christmas.

I swear, it seems like every year that goes by places start putting out their Christmas gigs a few days earlier. Pretty soon we’ll be celebrating the fourth of July with reindeer and mistletoe, and Valentine’s Day will just be an excuse to get jacked up on Egg Nog (moreso than it may already be, that is). You can’t escape it. Just yesterday, my roomate and I were enjoying a hearty noon-thirty breakfast at the International House of Awesomecakes when lo and behold on comes Christmas music crackling over the speakers. It was Veteran’s Day for crying out loud! Shouldn’t they have been playing Sinatra or something? I bet all those veterans appreciate the fact that their holiday has been glossed over for a fat man in a red jumpsuit. Thanksgiving hasn’t even swung aroung and I’m already seeing commercials set to Jingle Bells. This is madness! (Or is it Sparta? Either way, it’s still November people!)

In other news, I’ve realized that I’m a terrible physicist. Not because I’m necessarily bad at what I do (though to be fair, the Fluids homework is kicking my ass) but rather it’s because I started this blog as a conduit through which I could channel my inner science geek, and instead it’s turned into an upscale livejournal where I whine about nothing important and hatch crackpot ideas with minimal scientific backing at best. In the days to come, I’m going to seek to remedy that. Not by changing what I’m writing - please, I love arbitrarily expressing myself - but rather by adding in a couple of regular topics. Hopefully that will include commentary about new news in physics (written in the same lovable style as everything else), and a continuing section on how we can fix physics education.

But more on that later, for now I have evil to plot and papers to grade.

Blog News, Rant Blog News, Rant

A thought occurred to me as I walked to class this afternoon, ready and willing to teach the kiddlies all about the magic of conservation of energy and work. It started slowly, but then it’s pace quickened dramatically as a sudden realization washed over me with the Earth-shaking power of a thousand blistering asteroids plummeting furiously into a Olympic size pool filled to the brim with Orange Jell-o…

I only have one day of classes this week. Or at least, classes that I don’t have to teach.

It’s pretty liberating in some ways, knowing that the only day I’ll have to put up with lectures is Thursday, and that’s only for a whopping total of two and a half hours. In other ways, I have to sit back and accept that I have a mountain of homework (some of which that is overdue) that is staring me in the face and absolutely has to be turned in by Wednesday evening at 5:00pm when the Physics department closes up shop for the night. Over a hundred pages of my Fluids Mechanics textbook to read, four back-breaking problems to do in regards to the reading (if you think 4 problems isn’t bad, you’re welcome to do them for me), and at least four pages to write about the process. I guess writing it down it doesn’t seem that bad, but I know the problems are going to take the better part of tomorrow and Wednesday.

Still, it’s kinda nice to know that I can do almost all of my work in my PJ’s.

General class, reflection

I kept waking up the missus, so I retired to the living room where I could write this post without worrying about risking her wrath. You see, my wonderful girlfriend is a bit of a bipolar sleeper, and it’s sometimes difficult to get a read on what kind of night she’s going to have. Most of the time, a rhinoceros could crash through the wall and wrestle violently with a grizzly bear that tore its way up through the pipes and she’d sleep right through it. Other times - like this night in particular - even the most subtle change in the brightness of my monitor will send her shooting up in bed faster than you can say “I swear I wasn’t looking at porn!”

It’s that kind of strange inconsistency that seems to be governing my life right now. Between the roller coaster ride that is the grad school application process, and my total lack of time to do anything constructive anymore, things are pretty unpredictable. That’s alright though, if I learned anything from my quantum mechanics class, it’s that just because we don’t know all the details about a system, doesn’t mean it won’t all work out in the end anyway. I just hope nobody comes along and collapses my grad school wave function into a series of rejection letters. That would suck.

The first person I catch looking over my shoulder at my applications gets my fist tunneled through their face.

In other news, I’m thinking about taking this blog public at some point in the near future. (That felt so strange to type, knowing that next to nobody is able to read this right now). As per usual with these types of things, Josh (the non-physics one) has inspired (read: goaded) me into taking down the electrified fence protecting this blog, allowing me to once again let my thoughts flow freely through the intertubes. I’m going to miss the attack-iguanas though. They’re so cute!

My biggest concern about the whole deprivitizing process is the unspoken expectation that I actually produce content. I should probably take another page out of Josh’s book and provide some regular features. I know he’s doing Monday reviews, and the Friday-Five, and so on, and I can’t help but concede that as a pretty good idea. I don’t think I’ll run anything quite so regimented, but a number of dedicated fall back subjects that I can reliably post about from week to week (and enjoy doing so) would be a great help for turning this into what I ultimately wanted it to be in the first place: a repository for my thoughts on the world.

Speaking of thoughts, I’ve been thinking a lot about Bill Nye recently. I think of all the figures on television when I was growing up, and all the fantastic shows that shaped me as a child, the one man with whom I connected the most was Bill Nye. To this day I still remember the theme song, and I was always impressed with his rigor and easy to understand explanations, especially when compared to that hack Beakman. In fact, as Kristen and I were watching an episode of Time Warp on the Discovery Channel and I couldn’t stop thinking about crazy old Billy Nye and all the fantastic times we had together. Holding that thought for a moment, I have to take a brief aside to say the following on the subject of Time Warp:

What a horrendously addictive, but wholly substance-less show! Seriously. They do awesome stuff, and catch it on high-speed cameras. What more could you want? I’ll tell you: show hosts that know what the fuck is going on. Ugh! I couldn’t stop myself from correcting all the little mistakes they kept making when they tried to talk about Physics. Freshmen-level Physics at that! Honestly, I couldn’t tell if it was really because they didn’t know what the script they were reading meant, or if they were just trying to dumb it down for the average Joe, but either way, if I’m watching a show that tries to imply that it contains some degree of rigor… I’d like my hosts to get it right. Augh! Frustrating as hell. Still awesome though. Very awesome.

Anyway, aside over. Back to Bill Nye.

As I was saying, Kristen and I were watching Time Warp and my thoughts drifted back to Bill Nye, which reminded me of a conversation I had last semester with Subir - a colleage of mine who’s now working towards his PhD at Columbia. We were sitting in the Computational Physics lab here at Uni, and Subir turned to me and said “you know Rob, you have the gift. I think you could be a great spokesman for Physics.” At the time he invoked the name Brian Greene - the well known String Theorist who has released a couple of hugely popularized novels - but as the conversation continued on, Bill Nye - among others - were thrown out there as well.

At this point, I think it’s important to point out that Bill Nye and popular physicists are on two entirely different levels. Both contribute to science in their own unique ways, but scientists like Brian Green, Stephen Hawking, and the myriad of others recognizable by the laypersons of the world have the magic knack of making high level Physics simple, interesting, and easy to understand. Bill Nye, the Mythbusters, even Mr. Wizard bring something else to the table: they bring charisma (sometimes) and (more importantly) enthusiasm (which is great for getting those children excited in the physik).

On one hand, you have the ultracomplicated made simple and interesting, and on the other hand you have the dull and boring made exciting and engaging, and as Kristen and I sat and watched two grown men dance on Oobleck in super-slow motion, I turned to her and said…

“I want to be Bill Nye.”

That’s not the end of the story though. I don’t just want to be Bill Nye, I want to be Brian Greene too. I want to do both, and that’s where this long, winding, senseless path finally culminates: I think my regular content is going to be putting physics - real physics - out on the table, and make it engaging and interesting, regardless of its level.

And that’s all I’ve got for now. This long assed post (which was started over an hour ago, and should have been a lot shorter if I was going to stick true to the title) got way out of hand, and I really need to hit the sack. But now you (and by you I mean the two people who have access to this right now) have a small preview of what I’m going to try to do with this. Who knows, maybe if I get a savvy lab coat I can even put my camcorder to good use.

And with that folks, my EEE and I say good night.

P.S. I just had to finish proofreading this right when an episode of South Park came on the TV.. Now I won’t get to bed until three. Dammit! Curse you television for distracting me so!

Blog News, General, Physics, Self-Reflection josh, kristen, Physics, ramble, reflection, television

Get me a copy of that speech. Now. That was fucking fantastic.

After you do that, pick me up a batch of his oration skills. Because holy fuck, that man has me going. He could probably talk me into bed with him right now if he really put his mind to it.

All jest aside, I was chatting with a friend online as I watched Obama’s speech, and here’s the conclusion I finally came to…

(12:17:30 AM) hikosmynd: you know
(12:17:32 AM) hikosmynd: it’s kinda silly
(12:17:34 AM) hikosmynd: all of this
(12:17:42 AM) hikosmynd: and i dont say that because of how worked up we’re getting
(12:19:17 AM) hikosmynd: i’m saying that because this man has somehow inspired one of the most apathetic countries on the planet to a phenominally idealistic place. he - in some ways - has promised us the world, and a better one at that. one where war is used to defend, energy provides us, and protects the planet, and education is the defining drive of improving society.
(12:19:37 AM) hikosmynd: all of these things, so many of which - in all reality - are outside of the scope of what any one man can do, president or not
(12:19:39 AM) hikosmynd: but the thing is
(12:19:52 AM) hikosmynd: despite the fact that i know that i’m being idealistic
(12:20:09 AM) hikosmynd: despite the twinges of doubt nagging at the back of my mind
(12:20:25 AM) hikosmynd: i’m stunned to realize that somehow i believe he can do it.
(12:20:39 AM) hikosmynd: maybe not all at once, maybe he wont be the one to do it all, but i think he can start us in that direction
(12:21:31 AM) hikosmynd: and i’ve never - EVER - felt like that about any president that i’ve seen in my lifetime.
(12:22:00 AM) hikosmynd: who knows, maybe i’m just caught up in the moment. maybe it’s just the fact that he’s a good speaker that knows how to drive home an impossible message of hope
(12:22:08 AM) hikosmynd: but dammit, right now I’m looking at the future of this country
(12:22:42 AM) hikosmynd: and i see a lot of potential that wasn’t realizable two hours ago

And I really believe that. I know it’s sappy, I know I’m all emotional right now (that speech seriously gave me chills), but come on. If you’ve got any kind of hope for this country you have to admit he’s got something going for him.

I don’t think I’ll ever wax this political ever again, but to hell with it. Obama deserves it.

Politics amber, obama, Politics

November 4th, 2008. A day that will no doubt go down in the history books. Here I am, sitting in the living room of my apartment, awash in the aftermath of what could become the most important Presidential election in the more than two centuries that this wonderful country has seen. I have never - and I mean ever - been more proud to be an American than I am right now. Maybe it’s just the euphoria that comes with this type of thing, but I’d like to think that feeling I’m experiencing right now is real. Look at what just happened, we have just elected the first President whose skin is not white.

Barack Obama is the first. black. president.

More importantly though, he’s a man who I feel is prepared to move America in the right direction. A man who will repair much of the damage that has been done over the past few years. A man who will restore the World’s respect for America, not with might, but with the same presidential poise he has shown throughout this election cycle. He is a man who - I feel - has his priorities in order, and he will begin (I hope) a new age of green energy, and independence from not just foreign oil, but from fossil fuels. He is a man who will restore the educational excellency of our country. He is exactly what we need right now.

Of course, I’m being idealistic. Obama - I’m sorry - President Obama has a huge task ahead of him, and there’s an excellent chance he won’t be able to do it - if he can even scratch the surface. But if this election has proven anything, Obama has the ability to inspire people, and if we have any chance of changing America, we need that kind of strength.

I think most of all, I’m in awe of the time we live in. Our children, and our children’s children will ask us about this day when they learn about it in History class, and it’s not just President Obama. Look around, even scientific projects like the LHC, LIGO and LISA, and so on, are setting the stage for a new frontier for the human race. I’m trembling just thinking about it.

If I remember anything about this election, let it be that a good man inspired the uninspired - as evidenced by the hundreds of typically apathetic college students who marched around the campus of the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth chanting in joy. This is the beginning of a beautiful thing, and I’m excited to be along for the ride.

Politics history, obama, Politics, reflection

I’m a big fan of the Breakout family of games, and I always have been. I remember playing the original breakout on my dad’s Atari, and to this day I still go back to it from time to time (although admittedly it’s in the form of Brick on my Blackberry). The series hasn’t really changed all that much since back in the old days. The breakout to arkanoid jump was the only thing that really changed the core of the game, and I mean honestly… who doesn’t like power ups?

But I was playing a new version of the bump-and-break classic on Kristen’s laptop today, and it got me thinking… it would really be pretty damn awesome to make one of those games that focused on charge rather than the standard pinball-like physics. Introduce electric fields and magnetic fields and stuff. There would be some interesting mechanics, make the graphics stylized and load up on powerups. It’ll be great (plus it would be educational)!

Everybody wins!

General game, kristen

My favorite part about living with Adam is watching television and being snarky about it. There’s nothing quite like making a sarcastic comment to finish the thought of some actor or public figure taking a breath, or responding to things that clearly request no response. I guess it’s a way to lash out against the stupidity of television, or at the very least, how cliche it so often is. The snarkiness isn’t limited to the standard television stuff though, even presidential debates are fair game.

Obama: …and veterans are asking how they can get on disability.

Me: They can’t. They shouldn’t have had their arm shot off.

It’s fucking fantastic! Not because I’m serious (quite the contrary, we need to support the people who’s sacrificed so much for the good of our country), but because it’s hilarious. A healthy degree of sarcasm, injected into the serious topics covered in a presidential debate, results in an enjoyable experience and it can be used to bring out some good criticism of what’s being said.

McCain: Blah blah blah, something about cutting ethanol something or other, blah blah blah.

Me: Don’t we add ethanol to gas to help try to reduce the cost of gas?

Adam: Well yeah, but what about those people who need their drinkie drinkie?

The whole thing that strikes me about the political debate process though, is the cyclic nature of it. In any given question, each candidate’s answer invariably ends up wrapping around to something completely unrelated. “Blah blah blah, war in Iraq, blah blah blah, dependency on foreign oil, blah blah blah, alternative energy, blah blah blah.” Yes, that’s all well and good senator, but the question was about Russia. “Oh right, well I guess in that case, it’s important that we continue to improve the education of our country.” The worst part about politicians - all politicians - is that they can’t say anything directly. Be blunt people! The truth will set you free, but it can’t do that when you don’t know what the fuck the truth is.

It’s not like that’s a big surprise. After all, it’s no secret that politicians always give you the runaround. Take the example of this question, posed in the debate (paraphrased for clarity)…

With the 700 billion dollar bailout on the table, how will this re-appropriation of government funds affect your plans as president.

At this point, both Obama and McCain talk about their visions for their presidency. Outline their spending plans, and pretty much give you the same rhetoric you’re used to hearing from both of them. After that, the moderator asks a follow up question…

So neither of your plans are going to be significantly impacted by this 700 billion dollar bailout?

Each one takes their turn reiterating their plans, skirting around the matter at hand which is quickly becoming clear. After all, the moderator is trying to get them to discuss how they’re going to continue with their plans, when the budget is going to be almost a trillion dollars smaller than it was at the beginning of the campaign. Of course, neither of them touch that factor. The poor moderator rephrases…

Perhaps I could rephrase the question to make this more clear… how will your plans function with less money to draw from?

Then, finally, they each answered the question. Kind of. In 30 second bursts that skirted around the issue. What the hell? Answer the question. This isn’t rocket science people. Rocket science involves all sorts of crazy physics and math. A debate requires two things: 1) the ability to think, 2) the ability to say what you’re thinking. It seems that most politicians lack the latter of the two.

Anyway, the moral of this story is be snarky. It helps keep your view of what’s going on realistic. In the end, you have to make sure that you keep a critical eye to the issues, and don’t get wrapped up in the language and bravado of the candidates. Once you cast off all the gunk by dismissing it in its entirety, you’re just left with the good, creamy filling.

By which I mean, I just lost the game.

Good night.

General, Rant Politics, Rant