Three Classes Down, Two To Go

I sent in my last paper, which was for my utopias class. It wasn't the best paper in the world, but I think it did the trick. Tonight I am off to the party that was for Jason and Diana. Now just Diana.

Link: Look At My Striped Shirt!

A highly recommended read: Look At My Striped Shirt!

Its a slightly funny, slightly sad look at the world today. Most interesting is knowing and seeing people much like the one in the story. So I guess let it serve as a warning to all of us of what not to let happen.

An Ethical Question

I have been pondering an ethical question, that I just want to present to other people. Hopefully people will feel bold enough to post their comments and personal feelings on the question at hand. We discussed this very question in my Law, Politics and Public Policy class, which I find a very interesting dilemma:

Before I can present the question, it is important to know that the internationally recognized human right against torture is one of the few jus cogens (meaning compelling law). This means that it, no matter the circumstances, should never be set aside, regardless the necessity. The other few examples of this are genocide and slavery.

Knowing this, consider the following ethical question:

A bomb has been planted in a city that has the potential to kill hundreds or even thousands. The terrorist is in the custody of the police. What should the police do to extract the information as to the location of the bomb from the terrorist?

In a few days, I will post my thoughts on the matter, but I am curious to see what other people bring up with regards to this question.

Two Classes Down, Three to Go

Just turned in another 12 pages of brilliant paper that was, from start to finish, created in the afternoon and early evening of yesterday (this of course includes the majority of the research). Actually, despite my cynicism on the amount of effort I put into the paper, it came out quite well and was yet another paper that I enjoyed writing. I am realizing I have an exceptional passion for things other people find boring, like my paper on international law and immunity (the one I turned in last week for POSC) and the one I just finished on interest in Islamic law (and the resulting Islamic banking practices). The most interesting part was learning about the complexity with which the United States system operates, and just how amazing that is.

This afternoon I spent time doing stuff with other people in my major...for the first time. And I actually had a really good time. I went first to a talk on neuroradiology, and followed that up with a party put on by the teacher of next semesters 462 class where I hung out with Michelle. Really cool guy, the kind of super sarcastic and pessimistic person who at the same time astonishes you with their intelligence and perceptiveness.

This last week, with the exception of a tad of stress at the start of the weekend, has been euphoric. I just felt so happy about everything going on. Most of it has to do with better sleep patterns I feel, because I have been going to bed earlier and just waking up feeling more refreshed and energetic (especially because I wake up before my alarm).

More posts coming soon about summer plans, as well as some minor website updates....

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"Who in the rainbow can draw the line where the violet tint ends and the orange tint begins? Distinctly we see the difference of the colors, but where exactly does the one first blindingly enter into the other? So with sanity and insanity." - Billy Budd, Herman Melville

Next Semester - Really

Like usual, my classes for next semester have changed. Having heard that I did not get the job I was hoping for over the summer, it turns out I am going home (which I think in the long run will be much nicer, except for the fact that I won't have any money). But it also means that I can take two classes at UNM over the summer (psychology 100 and statistics of some sort). So this of course led me to juggle my entire schedule around, and my new plan for next semester is:

• Brains on the Edge (BISC 462)
• Neuroaffective Disorders of Aging (GERO 415)
• Neurobiology (BISC 421)
• International Law (POSC 345)
• Sociology of Childhood (SOCI 305)

Reading over those classes, I am slightly intimidated. Never did I expect to be taking classes with worlds like "neuroaffective disorders" in the name. Overall, though, I am confident that it will be a really interesting next semester (and rather challenging).

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"To-morrow, and to-morrow, and to-morrow,
Creeps in this petty pace from day to day
To the last syllable of recorded time,
And all our yesterdays have lighted fools
The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle!"
- Shakespeare

Paper on Republic of Austria v. Altmann

Last week, I turned in a big paper for my political science class (POSC 130g). It ended up being the most fun I have had writing a paper and I definitely learned so much in the process. A few people have been asking to see the paper, so I have posted it online at austriavaltmann.com. I plan to keep the website updated as the case continues, because I think the outcome has some very interesting implications.

For those who don't want to read a 15 page paper on international law and immunity, the paper is on the case of Republic of Austria v. Altmann, in which a woman was seeking permission for the US judicial system (eventually the Supreme Court) to sue Austria. Back during World War II, the Nazis stole six paintings (now worth $150 million) from her uncle which she hopes to recover. The importance of the case lies in the fact that it deals with retroactive application of international immunity laws, that would have (at the time) protected Austria from such a law suit. For most, this isn't the most fascinating of subjects, but I loved reading about it.

What I Am Listening To

I know, I am a geek. But I can't help it. You may now see the last seven songs I have listened to. This page is also linked to from the home page, and in theory should update whenever I am using iTunes. You might ask what is the fourth column for...it shows what percentage of the song I listened to. It will give you an idea of what songs I skipped because I didn't want to hear them. Eventually, I will teach iTunes to learn about what songs I do and don't like (I know, a huge geek).

This was inspired by Glenn's post, where he did a much more complex version of this. Right while I was starting to get into writing my paper, I read this and am thouroughly distracted by learning how I can write programs to interact with iTunes. Further work (such as a smart iTunes, will have to wait until after my paper is totally done).

Update: Now, for the few songs which have associated album art, the image will also appear on top of the recently played page. Right now it only shows the image for the very last song played, but eventually I will get around to having it show small icons next to all seven last played songs. (4/21/05)

Update: Lots of improvements have been made, now its faster and better designed for calculating ratings. Also, their are now album images for all the last played songs. But for space reasons, you only see the last three songs. Eventually there will be some more view options. (4/24/05)

One Class Down, Four to Go

Had my last reading salon today.

"Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage
And then is heard no more: it is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing." - Shakespeare

My Good Day (continued)

Just still riding my "life is good" high. I just finished a paper (5 pages) about the spread of sexually transmitted diseases. We did an experiment in class where we modeled the spread of a disease through our class by exchanging fluid in a testtube. One person started out infected and we would see how many testtubes had the infection (exposed by some chemical) after two different partners. A rather entertaining excersise...

But today rocked a lot because I finally picked my classes for next semester, which are as follows:

• Nuerobiology (hard work)
• Sociology of Childhood
• Internation Law (with my favorite teacher of this semseter, Professor Alison Renteln)
• Introduction to Psychology
• Artificial Intelligence

Making for a whopping 19 units, which is a lot I admit, but I think it will be good and help reduce the stress in later semesters. The international law class is the one I am most excited about, because recently I have been strongly considering going to law school. When I met with my professor during office hours today, I realized that first her class is amazing and I wanted to learn more from her, because she is a genius. Second, that law school would be such a need thing to do next - the perfect follow up.

Well, bed calls.... goodnight world,

I Am Falling in Love

Yes, bad news folks. I think I am actually starting to love things out here. Of course, I will never love Los Angeles, but I am starting to finally pick up on how many wonderful experiences there are to be had out in here in Los Angeles. Walking around campus and just feeling immersed in the happenings, I just felt this sense of luck and happiness to be having this experience.

This isn't to say I hated it before, but I used to feel cynical and definitely hated Los Angeles, but I am beginning to see the thing that so many people love about the place. Never will I choose to live here, because of the pollution and traffic, but there are a wealth of amazing things always happening here. And no one can deny that over the last few weeks, it has been some of the most beautiful weather. Often I found myself leaving for class early just so I could go lay in the grass and watch the leaves of the trees highlighted by the sun (which made each and everyone glow). How can't I love it here?

And even my classes, which I have been enjoying all semester, seem ten times better. Maybe its that end of the semester feeling, but I think something about the professors drawing everything together just really makes me truly understand the larger meaning.

Today, although hectic with registration stuff, had to be one of the best days in a long time. I just felt a sense of euphoria, a sense that everything is going so great. And also an eager excitement for next semester. I truly am going to miss my class this semester, and really, I think a few extra weeks would be nice.

Finally, I think that despite the stress of the last couple of weeks of class/exams, this is the time that I love the most. A sense of working towards closure, a sense of making an accomplishment of my own (whether a final or a long paper). Call me a freak, but there is something great about when I truly devote myself to class work and really put my own huge investment into my classes.

Happy Birthday, Hugh Hefner (yesterday)

An awesome family picture: Ben, Jesse, Penny, Me and Bodi. Click for a larger version.

I just got this amazing photo from my brother. In it you can see my two brothers, my mom and I off on some hiking adventure with Bodi, the best dog in the world. We got Bodi at probably my seventh birthday or so. There was an ad in the paper offering a pure chocolate lab away to a good home. The couple that was giving him away was doing it because of relationship problems (a very strange situation) and got 64 messages by the next day. After narrowing it down to four people who seemed to have plenty of land out of the city, they came by and visited. I was so excited...we bought biscuits that day and I served them to him on a silver platter. After strange tension on the couples part, they ended up giving Bodi to us.

He was named Bodi because they were both physicists. His full name was actually Boltzmann Brownian Motion (a great pun, since he did look like a brownie in motion), after a famous physicist and his theory ("Brownian Motion"). After playing tug-a-war with his rope chew toy, he would run full speed three or four labs around the outside of our house. It was as if a train was coming through, you had to get out of the way. Then, to finish things off, he would take a swim in our tiny pond filled with goldfish and do a couple more laps in there.

On other cool news, today is my brother's birthday. Ben just turned a whopping 42 years old. Makes me feel young.

Midterm

(I am mad at Blogger right now...I wrote this last night, but couldn't post it until Friday)

I've got a big midterm tomorrow, my last one of the semester. Finally. Its in bio, and so there is a lot to remember, but after a good number of hours studying over dinner and the library, I think I am ready to tackle the beast. Right now just tinkering with my website trying to clear my mind and just pass some time before I do one last review and go to sleep.

Some of the cool changes that I have made in the progress include adding a gallery, so that you don't have to sit and reload my home page to see my pictures. It is a super simple interface, something that I am learning to love.

And what of my life? Things seem to being going well. I was really out of it yesterday, I just couldn't bring myself to really care about things. But it seems to be looking up already. Something about sitting and studying really helped calm me and now I am feeling much better. Also a lot of sleep last night helped.

Cool story from today: while Charles and I were sitting on a bench in Founders Park, I saw a lamp post on Trousdale Parkway. Its one of those lamppost in the center of the "street", where they put the banners. The lamppost right closest to Tommy Trojan, where all the tables get setup. The moment was very surreal, seeing this lamp just tilt over and then the smashing sound, only to be followed by the yells of those who moments before had been walking through the path of the falling lamppost. Luckily, no one was hurt.

Random Images

My home page now shows random images from a select few that I have taken. I will try to add more as time goes on. I took the two Calvin and Hobbes comics off for the time being, but I will put them back in the random loop soon enough (because they are awesome).

Also, I started writing in my blog. See my last entry from a few minutes ago. No promises, but maybe I can make a habbit of this.

My POSC Teacher

The professor of my POSC 130 (Law, Politics and Public Policy) is Professor Alison Renteln. Although I haven't head other people's opinions of her, I think she is exceptional. She has an amazing grasp on the legal history of the United States Court system and presenting an interesting narrative of the evolution of many controversial topics. But that's not what I want to write about.

Last week, on Wednesday, her father died. He just collapsed in the middle of teaching a class at UC Berkeley. He teaches folklore and earlier this semester, as part of the 125th anniversary, he was invited to come and teach one of the lectures of my POSC class. Having never heard of the study of folklore before, I was absolutely enthralled. He was an exceptionally passionate person who seemed extremely healthy and clearly loved what he taught. Simply said, it was one of the most interesting classes I have attended.

But to think that, unexpectedly, he died just last week. Of course, Professor Renteln was gone Thursday morning and in discussion that afternoon, our TA told us. The news really shocked me...for some reason it hit me as something so totally unfair and painful. Warning of death, whether a sickness or a car accident, does so much to soften the blow. And here this man, so smart and so caring, died without any semblance of a reason.

Yesterday, as Professor Renteln returned to class, I couldn't begin to imagine how she could approach that day. How, after such an unexpected loss, she could simply return to her everyday life. She had to force aside her pain and just try to continue with life, pretending that she wasn't devastated. But you could see the pain...you could see it in her late arrival (the first time all semester), her long pauses, her distant thoughts.

On Monday, I read this other sad story about unexpected death. It made me cry.

Last week was a strange week. So much death. It makes me scared.