Ikea!

Alicia and I are at Ikea today. We're finally blowing a gift card generously given to us by her parents for the wedding. Dessert first (pictured is called a "princess cake"), curtains next.

Man we love our Ikea.

To Do lists!

How do you stay productive? What keeps you on task?

I use Google Tasks, a neat little To Do application that is part of Gmail (Google's Email service). I can look at the list on my phone and add or delete items from anywhere. It helps me feel on top of everything I need to do. I throw assignments, cleaning tasks, appointments, and even goals on that list. It really prevents that icky feeling of "didn't I need something the other day?"

I've only ever had one problem with it: the list stressed me out. When I finished something, I'd take it off my list. At the same time, I'd add new things to the list. As a result, I always had things to do. Worse yet, some items would stay on my to do list for awhile, making me feel worse and worse about them the longer they remained. I was focusing on what wasn't getting done as opposed to what I was accomplishing. Every time I looked at the list, I was reminded of what wasn't getting done.

To get out of the feedback loop, I went on the roof and relaxed. Getting away from the list, I realized that my stress was only because every waking moment, I wanted to accomplish something. Certainly that isn't possible. Staring at the cityscape of Brooklyn, I started recalling everything I had finished. That snapped me out of it. I suppose this needs to happen from time to time. I guess that's one of the Cons of having a to do list that is always accessible.

Other organization techniques I've used in the past include keeping a small notebook in my pocket and using my email account as a to do list. The notebook was never around, so it didn't work for me. Email was nearly perfect, though. I'd just email myself anytime I had something I wanted to do. This didn't stress me out as much because my real mail would dilute the pile of things to accomplish. The problem is, of course, that the inbox becomes really cluttered.

So, there are a lot of options out there. What works for you?

Hello from Brooklyn!

Leela: The definition of cute.

Instead of my typical update, I thought I'd just give a letter style post.

Everyone, thank you again for the Wedding. It was better than I deserve. The gifts, the fun times... Alicia and I couldn't be happier. I can't even begin to say how your kind thoughts and gifts have bettered our lives. I'm sure I'll brag later about all the cool stuff we got.

On the education front, things are about as normal as ever. I'm approaching day 12, which means I'm somewhere between 1/3rd and half way through with the semester. My students are doing better than average. On my last exam, the average was 80/100, which is a lot better than the typical 70ish.

As for the classes I'm taking, I fluctuate between worried and content. But, that happens every single semester, so nothing new. It's mostly a product of Grad school. Instead of completing assignments and working towards a grade, I'm trying to master the subject. This means there's no end to the work. Unlike my students, I can't finish the homework assignment and be done. I'm supposed to review the notes from class, read the textbook, work on suggested exercises, work ahead... But that's how it's supposed to work. I'm supposed to become an expert in the field, and be studying mathematics because I want to, not because it's my job. I have a love/hate attitude towards it, but it's much easier and comfortable than working 40 hours a week in an office.

Alicia's Birthday was last weekend. I'll let her tell you what we did (it's her birthday, afterall!), but I will show you these:

They were taken at the Brooklyn Botanical Garden. It was very tranquil. Surprisingly quiet for a Saturday afternoon. It is a great escape from the city. High recommend!

Lastly, I wanted to show you what has made this semester great:

It's called the inSINKerator. It dispenses near-boiling water at the Graduate Center. I didn't even realize my school had this until three weeks ago. I've been using it every day to make fresh coffee without having to pay Manhattan prices (typically $2 a cup of coffee). I've even branched out and started trying different teas (which are super cheap if you buy loose leaf tea). Here's my setup:

The center is my new ceramic mug from Starbucks. On the right is my AeroPress, a portable espresso pump. I drink fresh espresso from the green mug, I drink tea and Starbucks' new instant coffee Via in the white and black mug, and I go back and forth between the two when I want an Americano (similar to coffee, basically watered down espresso). I've been super caffeinated, but paying practically nothing. Compare this to a year ago, when I'd average one $2.00 cup of coffee in the morning and one $4.00 fancy latte drink in the afternoon. Very sweet. If you ever have the option of purchasing one of these inSINKerators for your home or office, do it. Instantly.

That's about all I've got for now. I'm tweeting more, so keep an eye on the feed on the right side of my webpage. I've got a presentation to a Model Theory seminar on Friday, so back to work preparing my slide show.

Quick update

Hello all!

Very busy time for me lately. But then, when is it not? I've been busy wrangling health insurance, renters insurance, and my new classes. I'm trying to fit studying time in, as well as spend time with my new wife.

But mostly what has distracted me lately is Prof. Bloom, my advisor from last year, passed away over Labor Day weekend. I only studied with him for a year, but it was still sad to hear. I feel silly being upset by it, but I've been very fortunate to not have much death in my life thus far.

Anyway, I've got a lot of blogging coming this weekend. Alicia and I have finally finished cleaning everything, we've finally taken our neighbor out for dinner (he watched our cats while Alicia and I were being wed), and the semester is settling down. Saturday morning, I'll be able to sit with a cup of coffee and get some new posts up here.

From talking to you at the Wedding Reception, I understand there are more people reading this than I expected. I'll be sure to keep it updated!

Wedding Reception Time

Hoping you're on your way. It's time to party!

Post Wedding Update

Heading to Minnesota right now. Hopefully we won't be stuck in the plane for 6 hours...

The bad news: There's no time to settle down! Alicia and I have been in four different sections of the country in the past two weeks. It's been a whirlwind of travel the likes of which I've never seen.

The Good News: But it's all because Alicia and I are now married! Happily, too, if I might add. The ceremony in Las Vegas went without a hitch and hopefully this Saturday's reception will go just as well. Hope for good weather!

The Great News: I love my wife. Our honeymoon was a giant heaping helping of fun. We took a cruise through the western Carribean leaving from New Orleans, and Alicia even swam in the sea. I've got pictures to prove it which, if my world ever settles down, you should see a sampling of on this blog.

What I've been thinking about: Two biggies: losing my phone in Las Vegas has spurred me into purchasing a new phone. I think I've made a decision, but we'll see how this weekend goes. 

Secondly, classes start Friday. Luckily, I've got no Friday classes. But when I return Sunday, I'll have to start teaching Monday. Ouch.

What I've enjoyed: Everything! I loved seeing my family and friends in Las Vegas, thank you all for making it the wedding of a lifetime.

I'll see you all this Saturday!

Update #10

Two weeks until the wedding!

The Bad News: It's August. Where's the summer going?

The Good News: We're looking to have a great turnout at the wedding. We have yet to receive a no response.

The Great News: Alicia was admitted to the New York State Bar on Wednesday. She's a licensed attorney now. Read about it on her blog!

What I've been thinking about: Not much besides Mathematics. It must be something to do with my 6am wakeup time, but I've just been kinda zoning out. Studying has been occurring. Teaching has occurred. But that's most of what's occurred this last week or two.

Thus far, the hardest part of teaching has been motivating them. It's a quiet class and the students aren't doing terribly well. So every day, I struggle to get them involved and excited.

What I've Enjoyed: Really liked the AMC series Breaking Bad. It's about a high school chemistry teacher diagnosed with lung cancer. He decides he wants to actually make some money and live, so he begins cooking methamphetamines (crystal meth to you and I). Of course, he is intimately familiar with all the chemistry involved, so he's creating the purest meth available. It's always fun watching someone do something they're really good at. I also enjoy the thought that academic study can give you one hell of a leg up in anything you'd like...even the drug trade.

What's the most bizarre is that the chemistry teacher is played by the dad from Malcom in the Middle. I can't believe that's the same actor. He's fantastic. Really, really good.

Be warned, it's a dark show. It doesn't tread lightly on heavy issues such as death and morality. It has some humor and it's impossible to not route for the meth cooker.

New Art

I received such positive comments after my apartment tour, I thought I'd ride that wave a bit longer with some more pictures of the new apartment.

Just as we started working on the apartment back in June, the Renegade Craft Festival came to town. It's an annual market that features creative people from all over the country. Mostly, its a marketplace for t-shirts, bags, jewelery, et cetera. But we had a new apartment to fill, so I kept my eye out for some art. It was an expensive day.

The following is some of the art we purchased that day. All of it is hanging somewhere in the apartment. I'm hoping it'll let you get a better feel for the apartment. But I'm going to take the museum stance and suggest that art is best without commentary. Enjoy!

(Note: If you are the copyright owner of these works and would like it removed, feel free to let me know at jhinra (at) gmail.com).

Thank you!

I've been getting a lot of messages from people thanking me for the Apartment Tour. Glad you liked it! It was my pleasure, honestly. Thanks for all the kind words.

I'm starting my July teaching appointment Wednesday. Flying to Minnesota soon. Getting married in just over a month! Hope everything's going just as well with you.

Update #9

The Bad News: Trouble with the neighbors. This building went from being empty in June to being filled with families in July. Three new tenants, all with kids. I'd say the kids are under the age of 10.

As a result, we've been getting it from several fronts. Music plays, though not at strange hours. The hallways are crowded with stuff from people moving in. Kids scream while running through the hallways.

The worst part is that our garden has taken a beating. Poor Alicia lost some flowers this weekend when someone (a kid?) decided to pull them out and replant an entire pot in it's place. They took some of our hanging pots and hung them from a tree that couldn't handle the weight. They left food out, bringing a large amount of ants. Our candles were stolen. Perhaps the worst offense, though, is that they picked our biggest tomato.

We've adopted a zero tolerence policy about the flowers now. We refuse to watch and see if they do it again. Everything of value to us has been moved upstairs. Our fire escape is crowded with flowers, the tomato plants, etc. We even took our nice chair upstairs.

Since the new neighbors don't speak english, we can't explain why we're upset. Hopefully, our actions will speak loud enough. The garden doesn't look awful, but it certainly isn't as pretty now.

The Good News: Our Xbox has returned. In June, it stopped working. The problem is pretty widespread, it's called the "Red Ring of Death." That's because the Xbox doesn't turn on, but simply displays 3 red lights on the front.

The problem is caused by inadaquate cooling. Not enough air flow goes through the Xbox, and it over heats. Heat is very bad for electronics, so when the processor gets too hot it just never work the same again.

The "Red Ring of Death" is so widespread that Microsoft has a 3 year extended warranty to cover this problem alone. When our Xbox stopped working, Microsoft paid for shipping both ways and fixed the problem. Sure, we lost two weeks, but we gained a working Xbox free of charge.


The Great News: Life is great. I'm getting married soon to a woman I am still happy with even after four years of being with her. The apartment is exactly how I want it. I've managed to have a very content summer so far, and it is only half over. Both Alicia and I are employed. The kitties are happy and healthy.

And my biggest problems involve neighbor kids. No serious complaints here.


What I've been thinking about: Security. After our next door neighbor was robbed (nothing serious... he left the window unlocked and the thief only stole small electronics) and my father's email account was hacked, I've been trying to be more conscious of it.

Alicia and I were just invited to join Google Voice. The service gives us a new phone number (for free!) and gives us total control over it. We can block people who we don't want calling us, we can access our voicemail on the internet, and we can direct where we'd like the phone number to ring (cell phone, office, etc.). In terms of security, it means no one could trace this number to any specific location in the world. Thus, I feel free to mention that my new number is 347-987-1337. If someone weird on the internet started calling me, I could just block their number!

Other security measures we're thinking about:

- A P.O. Box: Then we could receive mail without giving out our address. They'd accept packages for us, too!
- A Safety Deposit box: Just incase we did have someone break into our apartment, it'd be nice to know our valuables are safe.
- A camera for the garden: The garden is where we're most vulnerable. It'd be nice to catch someone sneaking around back there, or better yet, determine who ruins our flowers next time!

Don't get me wrong, Alicia and I aren't afraid of living here. I guess life is just so good, I'd hate for someone to ruin it.


What I've enjoyed: There's been a lot, so here's a quick list:

- Pulling out the Playstation 2 in Xbox 360's absence.
- Not running the air conditioning now that we have enough windows to allow fans to do their work.
- 1 vs. 100 on Xbox Live. It's a trivia game show that plays live every Friday and Saturday night. You can actually win prizes!
- Finishing the South Park Memorial Day Weekend Marathon. It almost took two months, but we watched all 12 seasons of South Park.
- Alicia has a job. It's indescribable how happy she is.
- Verizon DSL. It's been much more reliable than Time Warner Cable. I will never go back to Time Warner Cable.
- Sleeping in. Starting Wednesday, it'll be over. But I've enjoyed it all summer.

Apartment Renovations

I know it's July, and we started in June. Lazy? Maybe. But here's what we accomplished:

1) Painting the walls. Alicia and I had to cover up cheap, peeling paint. Worse yet, the color was awful. It took two coats of primer and two coats of paint to get the walls looking good. If you're doing the math, that's 4 coats of paint for three rooms, which comes to 12 coats of paint. It still hurts to think about. And I haven't even mentioned painting the ceilings. But, the finished job is worth all the effort.

In the bedroom, we picked a turquoise. It paired well with my pictures of scuba diving, and complemented the Hopen furniture. Here's the best picture I could get that shows it:



In the kitchen, we painted orange. If you know Alicia, you know she likes, nay, loves orange. Plus, the black bookcase and black drawer would look great. Here's a picture that best captures the orange:



The living room color is the most complicated. It seems to change color depending on the light. Right now, it's dusk and we've just turned on the lights. The wall color is practically green. In full daylight, it looks closer to a mustard yellow. But, in most photos, the wall looks tan. Here's a picture that tries to capture the color:



Ugg, that picture above still doesn't look great. You'll just have to come to New York and experience it yourself!

2) Floors: As you can see in this picture taken before we started working, the floors sucked.



It isn't obvious, because the couch I'm working on is covering LARGE spots of blackened floor. But if you look closely at the floor at the bottom of the picture, you can see what I mean.

Here's the new floor:



It is the 69 cents per sqft flooring from Ikea, of course. You know, the stuff they put on the stairs and advertise that thousands of people walk on it every day. It is click laminate flooring. Here's a close view of the grain.



All fake, of course. It feels great though. There is no area of this apartment that I'm afraid to eat off of at this point. No, I don't plan on eating off the floor... but with flooring this new, I could.

For more about my work laying the flooring, check out Alicia's Blog.

3) Lighting: Here's the biggie:



Before we moved in, Alicia and I would sit in the garden looking up at this apartment at night. We'd say, "Wow, their kitchen looks awful. The light looks like it's from a scary movie." The light I replaced was a circular florescent bulb that flickered. It gave off a gross white sterile light. It was simply gross.

But those Ikea track lights do the trick. The kitchen feels fantastic, and the lights only cost $15.00 (on sale from $50!).

I added this light to the entryway:



I even installed a remote switch next to the door. The main advantage here is that the light switch for the main light is behind the big black bookcase. With the light above hanging in the entry way, we can turn the light on as soon as we get home.



Of course I had to mention the globe lights above. They are a silly way to light an apartment, but the look cool. Plus, I'm young. I can do this now.

Lastly, there's the hanging light above the dining table:



We picked this lamp specifically for how well it would match the dining table. I don't care what you think... I love it.

4) Garden:



Do you see all that grass? I grew that. From seed. Yup. All those pots? Alicia grew those.

We've done much, much more to this apartment, from the art to the technology wiring. But these are the major improvements to the apartment.

New Apartment Tour

Hello! Today's the day Alicia and I finished cleaning and took some pictures. Delays were caused by a lost camera, non-working internet connection, and mostly a big mess. But! Let's start the tour! Above each picture will be a description of what you're seeing.


Here's a picture of the front door. This is one floor above our previous apartment.




As we enter the kitchen, you might notice the size difference. The new apartment isn't actually bigger than the old place down stairs, but all the main rooms have had their size expanded. We lost a second bedroom, but we gained a much bigger kitchen.



Here's the kitchen in it's full glory. The big black bookcase now functions as our kitchen storage. All our plates and random knick-knacks are stored in the black cubbies. The sink is hiding to the right of the fridge, the bathroom to the left.



Ah ha! Here's the sink. One thing that's shocked us about the kitchen is how much storage space we haven't used yet. Downstairs, we packed every square inch with our kitchen supplies. Up here, you can see that the second shelf above the sink is practically empty.



Here's one of our windows leading to the bathroom. You can see the fire escape through it. It's kinda a pain in the butt to get through the window and sit out on the fire escape, but it's extremely nice once you're out there.



Our bathroom is relatively small, but it no longer resembles a hallway. One can turn around, get dressed, and many other things people tend to do in a bathroom. The sink was added at our request. The man who put it in actually had to tear out the wall and floor to run new pipes. The black tile is brand new, as when he went to repair the tile, it wasn't possible to match the old yellow tile.

The flooring was laid down by me. It's vinyl flooring that came in a roll. I slowly trimmed it down using a utility knife, then glued it down to the cement and tile underneath. Alicia went around the edge with caulk, finishing the job. I also built that wooden structure you see next to the toilet. It covers a bunch of ugly pipes and provides a shelf. I built it out of wood left by the previous tenants. It's actually the wooden slabs that hold up an Ikea bed. Lastly, we bought the mirror/shelf at Ikea. It was on sale, and looks awesome!



We're turning around and heading towards the living room now.



But first, here's a shot of the front door. It's the new home of the whiteboard and pin board. I should mention that the Taco Bell dog on the shelf in the wall is on temporary display. We still haven't decided what should go in those shelves.



Through the doorway now, you can see the left side of the room. I'm extremely proud of this area of the apartment. In our previous unit, we never had any spread out space. To make ourselves feel better, we tried to keep this room as quiet as we could. Hopefully, we'll keep the dining table empty: it looks so good that way.



Here's a look up. The white globes on the left are from Ikea (of course). Before moving in, this room had the worst lighting in the apartment. When it got dark, the one ceiling light just couldn't handle making the room filled with light. Those globes do the trick.
The black shelves on the right aren't new, but are a good home for display items we never need to touch. The wall of art is still a work in progress. Someday, we'll have that ceiling filled. The hope is that it contrasts all the other nearly blank walls in the room.



Here's a look back at the kitchen. You can see my old coffee table is still the entertainment center. There just isn't room for a big coffee table in Brooklyn. But Jeeves and the Poang chair from Ikea make a great couple.



Through to the bedroom now. The closet on the left holds almost all our storage junk. It's really crammed full.



Here's Leela on the bed. She spends a good 22 hours out of the day on that bed. One of the biggest perks of moving to this apartment is that the bed doesn't need to be against the wall. The room is actually wide enough to allow access to the bed from both sides. The bedroom is actually the biggest room in the apartment.



Ikea has almost exclusively furnished this bedroom. The bed matches the two Hopen wardropes, which matches the Hopen Dresser. We even have the two Hopen sidetables for the bed. I don't think I've ever been so coordinated in my life. The wardropes are actually 100% great, as this bedroom has no closet. I suppose we'd have to use the closet in the hallway.



Here's the newest addition to our furniture. They are bookcases (guess from where) holding every book we own. We would have preferred the orange chair next to the book cases, but the desk needed somewhere to live. The living room felt way to comfortable to stuff a desk into, so we opted to have a bedroom/office. Having giant bookcases to hold all of Alicia's books has always been a dream for her, so she has been ecstatic about them.



Well, that's the end of the tour. But what tour of the Glaser/Copeland apartment would be complete without pictures of the kitties?

Here's Leela, our newest cat:



This is Livia being camera shy:



Thanks for coming on the tour. Y'all come back real soon, ya hear?

Nicole is awesome...

...cause she's here. That's the only reason why. (not really!).

Update

The Good News: We've got the apartment. It's going to take a whole lot of work, but we can make it nice. Alicia and I have started painting, filling holes, and other odd jobs.

It's hard to describe why the apartment is better (though $200 cheaper is a good start). By that, I mean there are a lot of things wrong with the new place. But all the problems are outweighed by the fact that the apartment has great natural light (compared to our current apartment, which has none). This means we can get a draft through the apartment, and we know whether it is night or day. Also, the new place has a much more ueful layout: the kitchen is a kitchen, the bathroom is a bathroom. Our current place? Both are hallways.

All in all, it's a move up for us.

The great news: The wedding invitations are on their way out! Look for them in the next week or two, or check our Wedding blog.

The bad news: I lost my teaching job this summer. I've already received a week course as a temporary substitute, but there's a huge difference in pay. I'm told that CityTech (where I teach) will keep me in mind if a section opens up, but I'm not holding my breath.

Apparently, there wasn't enough enrollment, so they cancelled my section. Which I can understand, as they warned me that my appointment was tentative. It just throws my summer plans up in the air. It didn't he.p that I found out two days before I was scheduled to begin! Oh well, when life throws you lemons...

What I've been thinking about: Mostly the new apartment. I'm planning on building a floor to ceiling bookcase for all of Alicia's and my books. Maybe even a ladder? How cool would that be??

Building it should save me oddles on dollars. Buying a similar Ikea bookcase may run a couple hundred dollars, but I think I can keep it under three digits by building myself.

What I've enjoyed: Been reading Godel, Escher, Bach by Douglas Hofstader. Very good... Very mathy, though. Also liked the South Park Memorial Day Weekend Marathon. We're watching all 12 seasons on DVD... Still. We're calling it the Memorial Day Marathon because that's when it started, but it won't end until at least July. We're 1/3rd of the way through.

Brooklyn Comic

Was reading a local paper yesterday and I came across a great comic about living in Brooklyn. Click through to go see it. I couldn't get it to display correctly on my blog.

Click here!

It's by local cartoonist Julia Wertz and is almost exactly how I feel about living in Brooklyn. Just thought I'd share.

Quickies

Apartment changes? Just barely as of late.



I threw up some cool cardboard thingies on the previously blank wall above my desk. I think it fills the space pretty well.



Alicia and I found an honest-to-god liquor store near our place. Previously, all of our beer was purchased through the grocery store. In addition, my mother bought me a case of Bawls energy drink (it's quite delicious!). I saw the opportunity to make an awesome shelf in our fridge. I raised the top shelf up three notches and you can see the result.

Isn't it pretty? Looks like a Frat house fridge!

Honestly, that is the end of all changes to this apartment... we're moving up stairs in two weeks!

Leela

Technically, Alicia and I adopted a second cat. In reality, this kitty had been pestering us for two years. We were afraid that Alicia was allergic to cats, so we took a risk and got Livia, a supposedly hypo-allergenic cat. We love Livia, but she gets lonely. To solve that, we finally brought in the cat above.




I took Leela (formerly known as Oreo) to the vet three weeks ago to give her a checkup. She's free from any of the standard kitty diseases plus she's flea-less. Leela took her vaccination shots like a champ, and home she came.

We kept her in the bathroom for the first day, but it turned out she was already trained to use the box. Or, maybe, she just wanted to impress us!



Livia and Leela haven't bonded yet. They hiss when they see each other. They've even divided the apartment in half: Livia gets the living room and the lovesac, Leela gets the bedroom and the window.

Leela started out antsy to get back outside, but now she doesn't even want to leave. She absolutely loves our bed.



Friends tell us that it might take up to 6 weeks for the cats to become friends. That seems about right. They are less jumpy around each other now... maybe they'll be curled up together soon.

Backyard at Night

Alicia and I have put a lot of work into our garden. I'm sure you've read about it on her blog and I plan on including more updates over the summer. For now, here's some pictures of our garden at night.

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This here's one of the solar lamps we've lined the garden with. They were on sale at our local hardware store, though I think the rechargeable batteries need replacing.

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Here's an overexposed photo of our view at night. At the bottom, you can see Leela, but more about her later!

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Here's a backlit photo of Alicia. I no longer have the string of blue lights hanging, but didn't it look cool?

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To finish it off, here's me!