Let's talk, it's been too long.

Hello! Have we sat down and talked, lately? It's been too long, I think!

The last month has been filled with a lot of happenings.

We were just visited by good old friends, photoed above. I'll call them Andrew B. and Nicole A. to protect their identities. No wait, maybe that gives away too much. A. Berns and N. Anderson. Better. They may not want it advertised that they were associating with us Copelands.

It was a short trip, but we packed in some good times. There were burgers made, New York skylines viewed, brewery tours taken, fancy meals eaten, and even a trip to see some Art. They brought along good weather and even better subway luck. I doubt we spent more than five minutes waiting for all seven trains combined.

Berns took a great picture of me cooking some burgers, which I'm now using without his permission. 

Most importantly, though, they harassed our cats. Which is awesome.

Doesn't Livia look abused?

I turned 25 years old in March. Alicia treated me like a king, with some scavenger hunting, a few gifts here and there (Scotch glass! Minimalist art book! Book by this guy! Trip to Target to buy Neft Shotgun!), and even a midnight trip to a bar to celebrate a quarter century. I guess I've gotta thank my parents. But if I do that, I have to thank their parents, and so forth. Oh well. Thanks Mom and Dad! Thanks Grandma and Grandpa! On both sides! 

I'm teaching even more, now. I picked up an additional teaching gig Tuesdays and Thursdays from now until the end of the semester. It's through the tutoring center at Citytech, so it only pays half of my normal teaching gigs, but it will still work out to a little extra cash every week. 

I have not yet received my teaching appointments for the summer and fall, but I've got no reason to suspect they won't come. Apparently I can keep teaching college mathematics as long as I'd like. I'm worried that the position is a bit of a dead end (I can't get a better position without a degree) and it's limited money, but for now, it's good to have a decent paying job. 

Taxes are done! I actually did them myself this year. I feel like I understand taxes about a thousand times more than any time before. Which is to say I don't understand them very well, but at least I know what's going on now. I'm just proud we didn't procrastinate until April 14th. 

Would I do them myself next year? I'm not sure. I really, really enjoyed the experience and I felt like I've now got a good handle on tax preparation. Still, I might want to run it by a tax service next year to make sure I'm not costing us money. 

I'm happy! It's been strange not attending class this semester. In fact, it's been scary not knowing what the future will hold. Never in my life has my future been so wide open. I could be doing a hundred different jobs in a few months. I'm disappointed that I'm being rejected for jobs that seem perfect for me (bank teller?). But I've really started to relax about the whole experience and try to keep an open mind. 

 This picture is unrelated to anything above. But Berns really got a good looking photo of us, didn't he?

I'll see if I can't return to my old update formula later this week. But take that with a grain of salt. If you're reading this, you know my record on blog posting. 

Good talk! 

Update

The Bad News: No job yet. I've sent resumes out in big spurts, but nothing comes back. The worst cases are when I get fraud job offers: they'll want me to shop for them. I'd receive a check, use the money to purchase goods, then send it to them. Eventually, the check would bounce and I would be out any money I spent. It's honestly slowed me down a bit, since I don't send out my resume to every single job anymore. Oh well. I'll keep at it.

The Good News: I've got a backup plan incase the job search stalls. I'm going to try fixing computers. I'm hoping to charge $30 an hour. I've got my stuff together and I've even made a website: www.interrobangbrooklyn.com. The only step left is to put out flyers and hope people contact me.

Why name it interrobang? I think it's a cool - if not rarely used - punctuation mark. I'm hoping the hipsters of my neighborhood will grin and remember me the next time their computer crashes.

I'm sure you'll hear more about Interrobang as business (hopefully) blooms.

The Great News: I'm teaching again. It feels great to be working! What's really great is that I've already been paid. Our first payday for the semester was day one. So before I lifted a finger, I got my check deposited in the bank. Let me just say, it's awesome being paid for doing no work (technically it's future work, but don't be a buzz kill!).

What I'm thinking about: Technology, mostly. Building my website forced me to relearn css (an internet thing) and other web design tricks. Most jobs want programming experience, so I'm trying to find an open source software project to help with. I've also been teaching Alicia to program, and that's proceeding steadily. But mostly, I've been preoccupied with reading about computer repair so that I'm ready to fix any problem a potential customer could have.

What I've enjoyed: Quesadillas. All you do is heat a frying pan, warm the tortilla until it starts to inflate, put cheese on half, fold it in half, then back on the frying pan for another 30 seconds per side. Wow! Easy, delicious, full of possibilities. Wednesday night, I choped onions, garlic, combined them with frozen corn and black beans. This was layered with cheese on the tortillas. The result was a full blown meal. Yummy!

Grad School

It's time to announce it, I suppose: I've withdrawn from the Ph. D. program in Mathematics.

Don't worry, I feel good about it. I might return one day, but for now, I'm ready to stop being a student for a tiny bit.

This decision slowly came to me over the winter break. During the break, I took two weeks off from thinking about mathematics. I was happier during the break than I had been in as long as I could remember. Studying math had become a very large source of stress in my life.

Let me give you some history. I started grad school in September 2007. The math department hopes you'll complete your first round of exams within two years, one year ideally. I haven't. I took two tests, failed them both. I know why I failed, but I just didn't ever seem to get good enough to fill in the gaps that caused me to fail.

This past fall, someone finally told me "you need to know real analysis." I really hadn't studied it. I even prided myself in avoiding it during my undergraduate classes. So I've been at a serious disadvantage. In October, I resolved to start teaching it to myself. But all that did was bring about more stress. It was more that I needed to study, in addition to the classes I was taking and the classes I was learning. I still believe I could do it if I wanted to. But I don't want to kill myself over it anymore.

So here's where I am now. I will still be teaching at New York City College of Technology, at least for Spring 2010. I'm in the process of looking for a second job. And I'm happy.

Update #1 for the New Year

The Bad News: I've been bad lately, in just about every area but cleaning. I haven't studied much, I haven't blogged much, I haven't produced much! I hope you'll forgive me, internet. There's just been so much to do that I had put off all semester. We rearranged our furniture, I set up computers, I played video games, I cleaned... It's felt great knocking things off my to do list, though.

The Good News: The holidays went well, despite being stuck in Brooklyn. Alicia and I were grounded when flight ticket prices skyrocketed. Rather than spend approximately $1,200 to fly home, we hunkered down and spent the holidays in New York. It was sad, sure. But we were on the phone as much as our families would bear talking to us. We even managed to enjoy each other. To be frank, we were lucky. Weather in Minnesota would have almost certainly ruined our trip home. Who knows what would have happened to our flight.

To enjoy ourselves, we went to the grocery store and ate very well. We watched the neighbors cat, finally paying him back for watching our cats during the Wedding. Overall, it was a decent holiday. We'll be back to Minnesota next year, though. Absolutely.

The Great News: My classes are done for the year. They've been done for a few weeks now, but I really haven't mentioned it here. Grades were almost perfectly average, which lifts my spirits. Next semester, I'll be teaching a Saturday morning course at 8:30am. It'll be strange, but I'm excited to have extra time off during the week. I'm hoping it'll really help me keep a good sleeping schedule. I'd have declined the class, but it's Pre Calculus, the most interesting course I've ever taught. They tend to be the most interested students, too. So I'm excited.

What I've Been Thinking About: Technology. I've finally gotten time to set up our electronics in a nifty way. We've got Alicia's laptop hooked up to the monitor in the living room. I've hooked up the Xbox to the bedroom television, which is finally getting some good use. I've even installed Windows 7 on our homemade computer, so I can play around with that. I'll have a lot more to say about this in a later post.

What I've Enjoyed: Reading. Reading is actually one of my New Year's resolutions. Not just reading, but enjoying reading. It's one thing to force yourself to sit and read a book. That isn't fun, and I rarely finish what I start. For 2010, I'm hoping to actually enjoy reading. I want to want to sit down with a book and hammer through it.

Alicia's been a big inspiration lately. She can finish a book in one to two days. I forget that it's possible to read a book that fast. In my head, especially thanks to Math text books, books last weeks to months.

So far this year, I've read SuperFreakonomics and Lord of the Flies. Let's hope the trend continues!

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.

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.

The worst is over

I've finished my hard work this semester. I'll be giving the final to my students tonight, but that requires literally 0% work on my part. It was a toughie this semester.

The good news: I'm back to blogging! I'm hoping to push out a few updates out today and then resume my regular blogging schedule.

So come back to Brian Blogs in Brooklyn!

Update!

Hello!

Great News: My spring break trip to Minnesota was great. I got to see everyone, Alicia got to meet my family, I lost no luggage, ... Everything was fabulous

Good News: I got my Peek in the mail. It's an email only device that I've been heavily using since I bought it. The big advantage it offers me is that I can write things on the subway. It's about the size of a Blackberry, with a pretty big keyboard, so I can pound out emails, to do lists, or even blog posts. That GTAIV post last week? Wrote while writing the G train.

Mostly, the Peek has gotten me into Twittering. Twitter is a blog service that only lets you post 140 letters/spaces/numbers at a time. The idea is to just write down your thoughts as they happen. For example: Say I'm with Alicia in Manhattan and we see a giant Star Trek advertisement that glows green. By the time I get home, I'll have forgotten. Now, I can just pull out my Peek and write: "Whoa, giant Star Trek ad on 5th ave. I've been watching the original series, I'm pumped for the movie." Now, you'll know what I've been out looking at, what's on my mind, and feel a little bit closer.

In a nutshell, that's what Twitter is for. I'm hoping to post a weekly roundup of some of my tweets.

The down side is no pictures. I'll have to post more to compensate.

The Bad News: One month until the end of the semester. It's crunch time now. I've started treating it like a god's honest full time job. This means I leave the house and study for at least 5 hours every day (I'm at the Graduate Center library right now, actually). This is my third day of leaving the apartment to study, but I've already gotten a ton of work done. I'm feeling better about myself as a student and I'm enjoying my free time when I'm home. Why? Because I've separated my work from my play. Before, the axe of studying was hung above my head 24/7. Now, after studying for 8 hours, I can do whatever I'd like at home. There's no point in studying in the evening, as I'll just be studying tomorrow morning again.

This change in studying attitude has been a long time coming. If I really want to be an academic, studying needed to change from it's previous do-it-whenever-you-make-time position (which worked great in Undergraduate) to a real job. I'm really hoping this has happened.

What I've Thought About: The garden! Pictures tonight or tomorrow. The big new change is the mulch that Alicia wrote about here. Our upstairs neighbor is moving in about two months, and she just donated a ton of pots. So lots of work to do!

What I've Enjoyed: How could you not love the weather as of late? We hit the 80's last night, and it is holding steady. Alicia and I are trying to go as long as we can without air conditioning. Wish us luck.

Update #7

Livia doesn't like the flash

Great News: If you recall, I wrote in my previous update that I was worried about how the evaluation went. Well, my teaching evaluation went great. The professor whom attended my class commented that I had the students engaged, which is extremely important. She said they all seemed to be working on the problems I wrote on the board and the students weren't afraid to ask questions. Yay!

Good News: My lesson plans have almost caught up to the recommended curriculum. At my worst, I was two days behind. I slowed down during a subject the students were struggling to comprehend and it seemd that it would be impossible to speed up the lectures. But as the semester progressed, my students got better! Now, the class is exactly where I want it.

The midterm is Wednesday. I've got high hopes for my students. Normally, I end up weeping inside as I correct an exam. I don't actually cry, but it is very disappointing to see the kinds of mistakes students can make. Especially after my lectures are "DON'T MAKE THIS MISTAKE!" Cross your fingers for my students!

The Bad News: March is done. Only a month and a half until the Spring Qualifying exams. I'm scared. It's very hard to find time to studying for them.

What I've Enjoyed: Peggle! I bought Peggle for the Xbox 360, but it is available online for the computer, too. Basically, you shoot marbles at pegs, trying to hit all the orange pegs. It's exactly like Plinko from The Price is Right. Addicting, mindless, fun!

What I've Thought About: Peek. Peek is a portable handheld device that lets you check your email. It uses the T-Mobile cellular network and is only $20 a month. The people at Peek just released a new and improved version of Peek; it looks awesome. Plus, it's cheap! The older model is only $50, the new one is $80. CostCo has the old one available for $400, which includes LIFETIME service! Thus, no $20 a month. It doesn't let you surf the web, it isn't a phone. All it does is email. I've really been going back and forth, debating it. I don't have a fancy phone like an iPhone, so I can't check my email when I'm away from a computer. But if I get this, I really shouldn't get a fancy phone later on down the line. I'm torn!

Update #6

Hello! Here's what's going on with me:

The Great News: I'm 24! As you may recall, my birthday was Sunday. I had a great Birthday. I woke up to breakfast in bed prepared by Alicia. She even made me a menu, which options. I had big eyes, bringing me to order french toast, scambled eggs, and potatoes. It was fabulous.

Alicia and I then walked around Manhattan, spending money where we normally wouldn't. For instance, I bought a Futurama comic at Barnes and Noble for 2.99. Normally, I'd say "blah, I don't need it." But on my birthday, dall garn it, I blew the money. We started in SoHo (SOuth of HOuston street), moving from the east side of Manhattan to the west, all the while walking up to about 23rd Street.

Some of my swag include new rubber coasters, some new jeans, a book about casinos, and a new Nintendo DS game. Hurray!

The Good News: The middle of the semester is here. Today is officially spring, and the semester is going fast. I'll be giving my students their midterm in just over a week, then I'll jet home to Minnesota to enjoy Spring Break and Easter weekend.

The Bad News: Every semester, a full professor attends one of the classes I teach to give feedback. Normally, I get great comments. This semester, I was evaluated the day after my birthday, which gave me less time to prepare. As a result, three of the four problems I put on the board at the beginning of the day had typos. (I always put a few math problems on the board for students to work through while I take attendence and answer questions). I think the rest of the class went just fine, but that first twenty minutes really shook me.

I haven't actually heard what my evaluater has to say yet. I'll meet with her Monday to discuss how it went and what suggestions she has for me. I'm preparing for the worst now, though.

What I'm Thinking About: I'm thinking a lot about Set Theory. We're working on Forcing Arguments. Now, forcing is a prerequisite for the class but I haven't ever studied it before. So I am at a disadvantage. But I'm extremely interested in the subject, so I've been sticking with it. But this class is why I've been so busy lately. I don't think I've ever felt so busy studying. Even taking over 20 credits at UMD was easier than this.

Here's my quicky explaination of forcing. Suppose we have a mathematics (we do!). It's a system where some sentences are certainly false (like 2 + 2 = 3) and other sentences are true. In the early 1900's, Godel proved that there are sentences that can't be proven true or false in a mathematical system. (Whether these sentences are true or not can't be determined within the system... but we're humans, so we can certainly have beliefs). Forcing allows us to make "Stronger" mathematics, that can show whether those sentences above are true or false.

How's that? Clear as mud? Prof. Hamkins, my set theory instructor, described forcing as "Profound, but extremely difficult." So far, my experience with forcing suggests he's right.

What I've Enjoyed: I've been playing my Nintendo DS a lot more lately. It's perfect for subway rides. I should be reading a book or studying my flash cards (you'd be surprised how much there is to memorize in higher level mathematics). But the subway rides go really, really fast with a video game. And it's about the only time I don't feel guilty about wasting.

But not 3 months!

Hello! It's been over two months since I last posted, and approaching three... but here I am! I'll do a little round up of what's going on, with further posting to come.

The Fall semester winded down with out much to comment on. My flight home for Christmas was canceled, getting me home on Christmas day. I still was able to see my family, but it's a shame our time was cut short.

I spent January studying and preparing for the next semester. I was actually treating it like a job. I'd go to school around 8 in the morning, stay there and study all day, then leave around 4 to 5pm. It was tough keeping focused, but being away from home helped a lot.

My semester started the last week of January. I'm enrolled in three classes:

1) Set Theory, a course about sets (believe it or not). This is the super-hard course of the semester. But in it, we started out studying "inaccessible cardinal numbers," numbers so big they become bigger than the theory that studies them. They're bigger than the numbers from 1 to infinity, they're bigger than all the decimal numbers between 0 and 1, and so on. They're actually called "Large."


2) Independent Study, a continuation of the work I did last semester on graphs. I only meet with my advisor every other week. When I do, I have to take the subway to City College, which is up in Harlem. From my apartment in Brooklyn, it's a 3 hour round trip. Needless to say, it's long. The worst part about it is according to Google Maps, I'm only traveling 7 miles each way.

3) Colloquium on College Teaching, a four week, 0 credit class about Academia. It's taught by Dr. Cahn, which is cool, because I used his Philosophy Anthology back at the University of Minnesota. I told him we always used to joke that you'd have to take passages in the book "Out of Cahn-text" (context). He actually enjoyed it, had never heard that before, and asked me to repeat it the next class. I guess everyone in Duluth, MN has strange humor. The class is actually over now. I really enjoyed it. Despite the name, it discussed a lot of useful information, like who the Provost is at a college, what needs to be done to get tenure, etc.

As for my teaching, I'm teaching two courses at night, Mondays and Wednesdays. One runs from 6pm to 7:40pm, the other from 8pm to 9:40pm. I've taught this course twice before, so it's been straight forward. I'm surprised how quiet the College gets at night. I'm the only math professor teaching the 8pm shift. The 6pm class as lively as normal, but the 8pm class gets very quiet.

Actually, today is the day of the first exam. To tell the truth, I haven't written it yet. So I better get writing.

To come: Weather, Livia, Brooklyn, Alicia, and much, much more!

Update #5

The Great News: Everyone is healthy and happy:



The Good News: The holidays are officially here:



You can tell by the Christmas lights.

The Bad News: The end of the semester is looming. I've got a fair amount to get done, and blogging shouldn't be it. Expect this blog to lie dormant through December 2009.

What I've Thought About: Gotta admit, its the linux computer I built last weekend. It had been in the back of my mind for months. Black Friday (the big sale day after Thanksgiving) presented a $99 19" monitor. The next day, I headed over with Alicia to a computer store and purchased everything I needed to make the computer work.

It's running a AMD Phenom X3 2.4Ghz 64bit processor (meaning it has three processor cores running 2.4Ghz each), 4GB ram, and 500GB. Those components together only cost $230. The case, motherboard, DVD drive and others brought the price up a bit more, but I built it just a bit more expensive than a bottom of the line desktop computer available at any major computer retailer. And it has top of the line specifications. I'm relatively proud.

It's running Ubuntu Linux (as opposed to a Windwos operating system). I've mapped it as a hard drive to both Alicia and my computer, so we can treat it like a file server. I've added a streaming music application so that Alicia and I can listen to our music anywhere in the world. I've got a bunch of more ideas for it, but I just don't have the time to play with it.

Alicia has more on her blog here.

What I've Enjoyed: The Wire. Great show that used to air on HBO. Really top notch stuff. Alicia and I have finished season 2.

Update #4

The great news: Thanksgiving is here! Although I won't be home with my family, things are looking good. I received a package from my uncle Gary and aunt Mary containing Lefsa, my favorite holiday delicacy. They sent it to make me feel more at home. I can't believe how sweet they are too me. 

Alicia is handling the turkey this year. We've got a 14lb frozen butterball turkey that we're brining at Alton Brown's suggestion. Alicia's got more about that on her blog. My job on turkey day is stuffing (care of my grandmother's recipe), rolls, the veggi tray, and moral support.

We're also hitting the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. The parade route ends across from Macy's, which is one block away from my school (where I'm typing right now). Our plan is to start here and walk up the parade route until we find a nice place to stay.

The good news: Of course. Alicia passed the bar! This should be great news, but It happened almost two weeks ago now that most of you have already heard it. But I thought it required at least a mention here.

We celebrated with Nicole (Alicia's friend from Minnesota who happened to be in town), and good times were had. Hopefully, pictures will soon follow. But if you're not patient, Alicia has it covered on her blog already.

The bad news: Thanksgiving preparations resulted in an influx of groceries in our apartment, which has made our storage closet almost unbearable. My plan tonight is to clean it. Which isn't bad in itself. What's bad is I've been procrastinating on it. Shame on me.

What I've thought about: Klein bottles and mobius strips. The mobius strip is a one sided surface you can make by twisting then taping the two ends of a strip of paper together. Don't believe me that it only has one side? Trace one side with your finger, you'll reach everything on the paper. The klein bottle is a bottle that is one sided as well.

I've been studying them a bit lately and to be honest, I always thought the mobius strip was cheating... how could it really only have one side?? Apparently, it does.

What I've enjoyed: Eating out of the fridge. To clean out the fridge to fit the new food coming in, Alicia and I have been making an effort to eat all the food that doesn't ever seem to go away. This means frozen meals, sauces, etc. My mother warned me about "owning" food, and she is right. It can be bad if you don't keep up with it. So it has been fun trying my best to eat everything older.

Update #3

The Cost Co. load Alicia and I brought home last weekend.

The great news: Nicole (Alicia's friend from college) is coming to visit this weekend! Good times to be had. I've been scrambling to get enough work done so that I can be lazy while she's here. I can't wait to be lazy!

The good news: Midterms have left, and my students did fine. Both classes had students with 100%, and my second class only had ten students with a D or lower. That seems like a lot, but it's pretty good for a college math class.

The bad news: I've felt overwhelmed lately. So much to do, and I never seem to get it done. It'd sure be nice to not feel guilty all weekend.

I guess it's just hard to balance work that I will appreciate immediately (like doing the dishes) versus work I'll appreciate four days later (like reviewing class notes). Ugg. I've been in school most of my life and I still haven't gotten this "studying" thing down.

What I've thought about: Computers. I keep thinking of the many reasons why a new computer would be nice. I could buy a "Skype Handset" which would basically give Alicia and I a home phone. We could store all our photos on the computer, we could have all our music in one library, and we could have a central computer which allowed us to easily back up our files. 

Plus, if the computer was in the bedroom, we could have a monitor there and watch television. I haven't had a TV in the bedroom in about four years, so that thought tickles me. 

But, my laptop is still working fine four years later. I just can't reasonably go buy a new computer. But I can think about it. 

What I've enjoyed: Fresh chopped tomatos in salsa. I never knew it was so simple to chop tomatos and throw them in salsa. Up until this point, I've always bought canned tomatos. But fresh tomatos make a huge difference. 

Update #2

The great news: I've finally gotten a handle on my Computability class. It took a new book from the library and a few hours reviewing an old proof, but I think I understand whats going on at a deeper level.

The good news: Halloween is tomorrow. I'll be going to the parade with Alicia, but we didn't manage to figure out a costume. We've been thinking about it since September, but nothing came to fruition.

The bad news: Guitar Hero: World Tour isn't great. GH:WT is the newest Guitar Hero game, and it expands the game to include drums and vocals. I was really upset with Guitar Hero 3, so I rented GH:WT. While things have improved significantly, the game still gets tedious. By that, I mean:

• It seems the makers make music harder than it should be.
  
• There are some bad choices of music included in the game. Songs like "Beat It" by Michael Jackson are fun, but not good for a music game (the notes just repeat over and over... it gets boring).
• There's in game advertising. Nothing upsets me more than when I see a billboard for AT&T Wireless in my video game. It's distracting, and it makes me wonder why they still charge full price. I know it is inevitable that advertising will creep into video games, but I don't have to like it.
  
• The characters are butt-ugly.
• Alicia says the singing is bad. She's an excellent singer (She's about as good as it gets on Rock Band), but Guitar Hero: World Tour says she is failing on songs she knows. What this tells me is they didn't perfect the singing part of the game.
• The loading and saving still sucks. After each set list, saving takes what seems like more than a full minute.
  

What I've thought about: Internet radio. I've always listened to Minnesota Public Radio over the internet, and I've always enjoyed it, even here in New York. But now Alicia is working at a computer for 8 hours a day, so she's using internet radio, too. She says New York Public Radio is good as well. So now I feel obligated to try it out.

What I've enjoyed: Cost Co. I found out there is a Cost Co. in Brooklyn, so I made my way there (I have to take a subway, walk two blocks, take a second subway, walk two more blocks). It was initially worried that it wouldn't be worth my $50 for membership. My worries were eradicated when I saw the food section. Holy cow. SUCH GOOD FOOD! Meat and vegetables are much nicer than my neighborhood grocery stores. I can buy great frozen food that is much cheaper than eating out. I think I'll be saving a ton of money now.

Update #1

To try and give a glimpse into my day-to-day world, I'm going to attempt a systematic update every week (if not more!). To make it easy, I want questions that are easy to answer. Here are five that seem to have promise... I'd love other ideas in the comments, if you've got them.

The great news: Every semester, my teaching is evaluated. Basically, a full time professor sits in my class, then gives me notes afterwards. I was evaluated on Tuesday (10/21), and it went great. My lecture was on top form.

The good news: I'm done teaching my Saturday class. There was a debacle with attendance, but I no longer have work on Saturdays. Over all, I'll have made $450 pretax for teaching six consecutive Saturdays. Not bad.

The bad news: I haven't played Rock Band in three weeks. Too much to do. Doesn't sound like this will change anytime soon, as I'll be giving Midterms next week, which means more correcting.

What I've thought about: I can't figure out how to properly feed Livia. I don't want her getting fat (not that it would be the end of the world). The problem is that when I follow the diet recommendation on Livia's dry food, Livia wants food all day. She's constantly sniffing her bowl, then looking up at me. It breaks my heart, so I cave. Will she finally get used to one can of food in the morning, half a cup of dry food in the evening?

What I've enjoyed: Fringe is the only TV I've caught, but its enjoyable. It's no Sopranos, but it makes me happy on Tuesday... too bad we've got 3 weeks until new episodes.