runnin'

running is one of the things that has kept me sane at this workshop, and kept me busy. i've run 24 miles in the last week (a new record for me?) and i've enjoyed every minute of it. it brings my july total to a whopping... 32.6 miles. i apparently didn't run much in the first 3 weeks.

one thing i learned: it's very important to keep yourself hydrated, even when it's 115% humidity outside. i came back from a couple runs i did outside without a stitch of dry clothing on me. don't get too excited, i was fully clothed. just utterly drenched. and no, it didn't rain. pure sweat, baby. mmm.

reflection on a week

after many days at nc state working on a statistics project i've come to realize several things.

first, statistics is a mystery to me. i mean, i can compute anything you want me to, and even understand what that computation is attempting to explain, but the interpretation is akin to palm-reading. sorry if i offend any of you statisticians out there, but it's true. i can read just about anything i want into the results. any pre-conceived notions you have in your head can be rationalized via one calculation or another. oh, that one didn't line up with what you wanted? no problem, we can explain it away with 12 others...

also, and i don't mean to sound cocky, but i've realized i'm pretty gifted intellectually. at least when put in comparison to many of the people that are supposedly my "colleagues" and at the same level i am. maybe it's just the situation, but my mediocre work outshines some people's best... wow, i feel like an ass for saying that.

lastly, i don't think i can work in industry again. well, i *can* work in industry, i just don't think i want to. not that i never will (i've learned not to write anything off completely), it'll just be my last resort. we'll see what happens when i graduate.

procrastination techniques

my to-do list has grown marvelously long over the last few days. since i'm leaving for nc state on sunday, all of it has to be done before then. fun. of course i naturally find ways to procrastinate. i will list a few examples:

1) why is watching the tour de france so awesome? every morning, i wake up, make coffee, flip on the tour, and watch that day's stage play out on the tellie. phil liggett has to be the best commentator ever - somehow he makes a multi-hour bike ride incredibly interesting.

2) wii fit is a great way to start or end every day. getting 30 minutes of banked time takes a good hour, tho. i have also acquired rockband2 for the wii, which can suck time like no other. but i've found there's nothing quite like wailing on the drums to release a little tension!

3) i just finished reading "the way of the peaceful warrior" by dan millman. totally enjoyed that book - a challenging book, but in a feel-good way. that combo is a rarity to me.

4) facebook gets more time than i would like to admit. when one truly wishes to procrastinate, it is the go-to site fer sure. maybe i should de-activate my account until sunday.

5) arsenal!!! i never get sick of reading the latest gossip on my gunners. (and soon, so very soon, i will be once again blessed with live games every weekend...)

academia

i gave my first academic talk yesterday at the SIAM annual meeting, and it was quite scary. fortunately no one tried to make me look stupid. i think i made myself look stupid enough just by standing up there. does it get easier???

now i have two weeks until nc state, 10 days of hard work there, then i start writing the paper on the work i presented yesterday. hopefully it'll be done by the end of september and i'll be one step closer to my phd...

in other news, i got cable and internet set up yesterday. fsc, heck yeah! 5 1/2 weeks til opening weekend of the premier league, when arsenal takes on everton aug 15th. 1st pre-season friendly is july 18th. hopefully we'll pick up the rockin' little brazilian midfielder melo from fiorentina. apparently they demanded eboue in exchange - take him. seriously. i'd be quite happy if i never saw his pouting on the pitch again.

if anyone would like to watch games at my place, you're more than welcome. just call. i'll be up early every weekend. i'm kinda looking forward to it. is that wrong?