Too much TV

Following the Willie Nelson interview, I started watching a documentary on Snoop Dogg's life. I wasn't aware that he goes by Snoop because his mom called him "Snoopy." When he was a baby she nick-named him after the Snoopy -- you know, the cartoon dog in Peanuts?

That doesn't seem very hard. Not that I doubt that Snoop is hard. Of course Snizzle is hizzle.

I love Willie Nelson

I just watched a rerun of a 60 Minutes interview with Willie Nelson, and I can't get over how cool he is. His life is fascinating. They talked a lot about his early history (man he looked clean in his twenties!) and his commitment to Farm Aid. He once had a hog farm in Tennessee that burned down. He also spent at least five minutes of the interview discussing how much he enjoys marijuana. He said he needs it to relax and manage stress. I think I'm gonna read his autobiography.

I've seem Willie perform a couple of times. Each time I've gone to see him, he just sings, and sings, and sings. It's amazing. I actually don't like going to see live music all that much because you wind up standing there forever, the performers always start hours later than the show is supposed to start, they usually don't sound as good as they do in recordings, and they never seem to play for very long. And they do that stupid we're-done-but-really-we're-going-to-come-back-out-after-you-clap-for-us-to-show-us-how-much-you-love-us thing. I hate that. Have you ever noticed that they come back out even if the crowd doesn't clap that much? Anyway, none of that applies to Willie. At both of the shows I went to, he outlasted me. They were three hour plus performances.

Bucky the fetus

I forgot to mention that because they're not going to find out the sex of the baby until it's born, Clare has dubbed the baby "Bucky" for the time being. She says we're not allowed to call it Bucky after it's born, though. Yeah, good luck with that! I think the kid is branded.

Knocked up!

Before you go and get your knickers in a twist, I'm not talking about me. I'd like to announce that my dear friend Clare is going to have a baby. It's her first pregnancy and the baby is due in January.

Clare being pregnant is pretty trippy for me, as she's one of my closest friends -- a sister, really. I'm expecting the pregnancy to be a recurring topic on RBlog, so I want you to know a little bit more about Clare, for background.

Clare and I met each other in our first year of college. She was a bit of an odd duck, coming from the Mid-West to a school full of West Coast kids. As a result of her Mid-western upbringing, Clare has a sense of propriety about her that made her stand out to me. For instance, she was (and is) an excellent conversationalist, in a way that I think is underappreciated (and almost non-existent in college freshmen). I admired her in school because she had such an easy time talking to people, especially guys -- she'd ask them tons of questions about themselves and would always remember every detail they told her. Then later, she'd follow up and ask them how each specific thing was going. It makes you feel really special when someone remembers the details about your life. Everyone loved her for that. It also made her a fabulous person to go to parties with. Of course, it didn't hurt that the parties we went to were at frats, and Clare is super hot in an athletic way: trim, big ta-tas, and would regularly hold her own in co-ed soccer and racquet ball matches. She literally had a fan club at Sigma Chi.

Here's a photo from a rained-out backpacking trip we took to the Olympic Peninsula just before our graduation:




Clare and I were supposed to hike in and set up camp. Ross (the now dad-to-be) and another guy were going to hike in and meet us. It was raining so hard, that by the time they got there everything was soaked, including the inside of the tent (because we spilled a beer or three in it). The ladies wanted to tough it out, but Ross was having none of it -- he drove us to a motel. We camped there instead.

These days, Clare works for a book publisher. She's married to the above mentioned Ross. They got married in St. Louis (Clare's hometown) a couple of years ago. I got to be in the wedding, which involved an astonishingly good-looking wedding party, if I do say so myself.




Since the wedding, I have seen less and less of Clare and I blame Ross for that.* Clare and Ross recently bought a house in Washington DC, which is a little far away for my taste. Something about Ross being a consultant in intelligence means they have to live where the intelligence agencies are... or something like that. Every time try to clear up the details, he just says he can't discuss it. The house thing seems like it would be good for the kid, though. It will have its own room and everything.

*Hi Ross!

I couldn't be more sick of calculus

Still, I'm gonna give you an update.

We got our last tests back this morning, which was irrelevant to me since I had already learned my result via email from the instructor. However, while he passed the tests back he commented that he was surprised at how poorly everyone did, which made me feel a little bit better. I like to take solace in the fact that I am not alone in my struggle. I saw at least one grade that was way lower than my C. Engineer Guy got another 100%, of course.

The instructor reiterated that if we did a good job on the final exam, we could expect a good final grade in the class. He says that the final exam grade is all he's really counting.

After reviewing for the final, which is on Wednesday, we got some problems to do for extra credit. I made it through only four extra credit questions and didn't really even get the last one. I had the sign wrong (negative when it should have been positive), but he generously gave me the point anyway. I think some people, like Engineer Guy to name names, made it through at least eight extra credit problems. Why does one need extra credit when one gets 100% on all of one's tests? I suspect he was racing through them just to spite me.

Movie review: The Island

Inga and I went to see The Island this afternoon. I was curious after reading gossip about its production in Entertainment Weekly and though she hadn't heard of it, Inga was game. There's not all that much to say about the movie, though. The stars are pretty to look at, there are an extreme amount of explosions and fight scenes, and the film attempts to include a dab of social commentary. If I had to sum The Island up in one word, that word would be "gratuitous." Still, I wish there had been more luuuuv scenes (there was really only one). They should have taken out a few explosions and replaced them with a little more skin.

Unless you're desperate for a way to blow a few hours, save your ten bucks.

Serenity now

I've just washed down another handful of ibuprofin with some tepid coffee. As the torture (aka "studying") continues, I'll try to picture myself here:




This is the scene of a fishing trip Jeff went on with his family a couple weekends ago. They spent a week in June Lake. Check out all the trout they caught:




That's Mr. Lupo. Again, Jeff took both of these with his cell phone. I'm going to have to do some serious camping in August to make up for the rest of this summer.

Panic consumes me

Yesterday I calculated that I have to get at least an 89% on our calculus final in order to wind up with the B I need in the class. I think I deserve some extra credit for being able to figure that out.

I had emailed my instructor in a panic after our last test. He told me I got a C on it (75%), but that there is still some hope for me.

He wrote:

"I am sure you can do your best on the final exam, just follow the rules and the methods I explained at the board in the class. Please do not get nervous, I am sure you will be fine. For me, the most important part is the final exam, it has the best value. So PLEASE be successful on your final exam, and study the mistakes of the quizzes and midterms, in order to avoid any unexpected and unwanted results. I believe in your knowledge and talent to be very successful in Calculus, all the best to you, and see you very soon."

He's a nice guy. He must have to deal with people like me freaking out about Haas all the time, which I'm sure is annoying. I wish I had as much confidence in my ability to master basic calculus as he does.

Less than a week until I don't have to fret about calculus anymore and you don't have to read about it anymore. Everyone is looking forward to that, right?

This afternoon I'm reviewing antidifferentiation, again, since I obviously didn't understand it as well as I should have. Then I plan to go over applications of the definite integral and implicit differentiation. I think I'm going to bring a bunch of donuts to our class tomorrow morning, too. It's the last Saturday class.

Rumor has it

Supposedly, Angelina Jolie is already looking for a third baby to
adopt -- this time from Russia. I was underwhelmed with the news. The proportion of news coverage relating to her adoptions to news coverage of her making out with Brad Pitt is way off right now. Someone needs to check that.

Last days of calculus

Tonight in class, we got our take-home tests back and took yet another test. The take-home test was fabulous, as I got 100%. I'd like to thank the Academy, as well both the Matts for their advice and leadership. I couldn't have done it without you! The test I just took, however, was much more difficult than I expected. It covered antidifferentiation and Riemann's sums. Also, some substitution. I fear I wound up with a low B at best.

My stress level regarding this matter has reached an all-time high. There are only two more classes left. One is review and the other is the final. I don't see how I am going to come out of this with a B, unless there is some sort of intervention on the part of benevolent calculus gods.

Can Haas afford to skew their statistics by having a fair number of admitted students fail to start classes due to complications with prerequisite courses?

Will I really not earn a B?

Will I be able to defer, or will they just give me the boot?

If I can't start the program, can I take my $30K in student loans to Vegas?

Could this be any more stressful?!

Burning Man: I don't get it

Why drive for days and pay hundreds of dollars* in order to do drugs and get naked with a bunch of people from the Bay Area? We can get naked and do drugs together ANY weekend. We can do it here, at home, with showers in close proximity! We won't have to spend money on gas! We'll conserve fossil fuels! We won't wreak havoc on the fragile desert ecosystem of Nevada!

The Burning Man website describes Burning Man as a "unique experiment." SFGate describes it as a "counterculture phenomenon." In its twentieth year, with more than 25,000 attendees annually, the Burning Man experience is neither unique, nor countercultural. Sorry to be a grouch, but I call it like I see it.

Stay home. Do some E, get naked, and light a sparkler in your backyard. Roll around in the dirt and don't shower for a week, if you feel the need. Then, donate your couple hundred bucks to a charity (may I suggest the Sierra Club and its fight to preserve fragile ecosystems), and call it a day.

*Tickets to Burning Man start at $250 this year.

Movie review: The Yes Men

Sadly, I don't have much time to write anything about this movie other than you should rent it and watch it. It was hilarious and eye-opening all at the same time. It also made me feel sketchy about pursuing an MBA, but whatever. I'm sure I'll get over that soon. Or choose to use my MBA for good. One or the other.

It's an Inspiron

Here's a link to the actual picture and description of the computer, in case anyone is actually interested or wants to give me some tips.

The dreaded PC arrived

My new Dell laptop showed up this afternoon. I'm actually kind of impressed with it. It only weighs about four pounds and it's much sleeker and cuter than I expected it to be. It's almost chic. One of my coworkers mentioned that it looks much more high-tech and intimidating than my iBook, too. Check it out:



I look powerful and corporate, no? At least slightly deranged in a business-savvy way? This picture made me think that I should really get back in the habit of putting on make-up and brushing my hair before coming into the office. I should at least slap on some lipstick or something, Jeezus.

At any rate, I still don't know how to do anything with the new computer. Tomorrow the little laptop gets set up with some more powerful software than the stuff it came with. I may also get a tutorial, but that remains to be seen.

Hours of entertainment and unique, stylish furnishings

I'm sure most people based in the Bay Area already know about Urban Ore. I have been hearing about it for years, but somehow never actually made it there until yesterday. Most likely that's because it requires a car to get to the lot and haul away all the stuff you wind up buying. Still, I can't believe I missed out for so long, especially since Urban Ore is only about two blocks from my office.

In a nutshell, Urban Ore is like eight hundred garage sales in one. Their idea is to promote reuse and recycling by selling stuff as-is that would normally be tossed. You clean it up, fix it up, make it into an art project, whatever. They have clothes, art, every type of furniture you can think of, records, books, dishes, knick-knacks, plus stuff you would use to finish a house, like toilets, doors, fireplace mantels, pipes, etc. Pretty much anything you can think of is stacked up in this big old warehouse in Emeryville. It's cool stuff, too. Most of it is pretty old -- at least from the eighties or earlier.

Yesterday I came home with about five pieces of framed art and a fabulous pink armchair for my office -- all stylishly retro and all for around $60. If you're a Bay Area kid, you should check it out. It beats Ikea any day.

Poodles on parade

Somewhere deep in my heart, I know it is wrong to make dogs wear clothes. However, it also happens to be one of the funniest things, ever:







These photos were sent in by Kay, loyal RBlog reader, who attended a Bastille Day party last week. The party featured a costume competition and parade for all the puppies. They were supposed to dress as poodles, of course. Ba, hah, hah!

My alter egos?

www.rblog.com

www.rebecca.browning.blogspot.com

Weird.

Both of these links were found by Hip E.

Call for submissions

I just received the call below from the editor of this project. Let me know if you're interested in putting together an essay and I can put you in touch with him.

"Ever been to Vietnam, Laos or Cambodia? If so, have you got
a story to tell of your journey? Or do you know somebody
who does? I’ve been commissioned by the publishers of
Travelers’ Tales, http://www.travelerstales.com/guidelines/, to compile an anthology of first person anecdotes about the former French
Indochina to be published early in 2006. If you or someone
you know is interested, please check out the guidelines in
the URL above. Travelers’ Tales doesn’t pay very much but, hey, you make up for it in glory."

Now accepting donations for a worthy cause

Yesterday, I made the unfortunate discovery that I have to buy a new laptop before August 9 (my first day of classes).

The business program at Berkeley requires that each MBA student have a personal laptop. I knew this before I submitted my application and expected it to be no problem since I own a laptop and use an even snazzier laptop for work. The work laptop already goes everywhere with me. I just assumed I could use it for school, as well.

True, I did have some small, shadowy concerns about the ability of my Mac to network with their mostly PC system. But I figured that ultimately there would be a way to make it work, since my laptop and its software are up-to-date, this is 2005, and we're living in the Bay Area.

I figured wrong. I finally got my hands on the two page description of personal computer requirements and there's only one sentence included about working with a Mac: "Sorry, Mac's are not supported." [sic]

It seems really strange to me that they won't work with Macs AT ALL. Aren't there some other industries out there (besides publishing) that prefer the Mac system? Besides having to come up with the money on such short notice, I also have to figure out how to work with a PC all over again. It's been at least six years since I last used one.

Getting oriented

The same mailer that supplied the bad news about the laptop requirements, also included the details of the Orientation weekend. This is the required new student orientation for which I am missing the much anticipated Shastathon 2005.

We're spending the weekend at a hotel in the Berkeley Marina. One day they're planning to bus us to campus for tours, meetings, and to work in groups on case studies, but the other day is all team building exercises. They have one of those consulting companies who specialize in that sort of thing coming in to work with us, so I'm expecting a lot of rope climbing, hand holding, and blind falling. On Saturday night there's a dinner/booze cruise around the Bay. Team building, shmeam building. Nothin' facilitates getting to know new people like booze.

All in all, it sounds like it could be kinda fun, though obviously not as fun as being drunk for 48 consecutive hours on a houseboat.

Have you bought it?

Who has already purchased a copy of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince? Write in if you bought it, or if you've already started reading it.

Depressed

I'm pretending that I'm camping this afternoon. Jeff has been gone all week on a fishing trip with his family, somewhere around Mammoth. The average summer finds both of us spending most weekends out of town -- usually camping. This summer is different, of course, due to my new educational commitments.

I'm picturing myself myself here:



The extra-large photo helps me envision it better.

In reality, I'm plopped on my couch blogging, also known as procrastinating. My take-home calculus exam is sitting on the coffee table in front of me, waiting to be started. The TV is blaring NASCAR. I no longer have the will to get up and turn it off.

Two more weeks of calculus.

(Thanks to Thrill for the photo of my favorite campground in California.)

Dogblog

Check out this new blog from a writer up in Washington. She's just written The Dog Lover's Guide to the Pacific Northwest, so much of her blog is centered on the book and her two dachshunds. She's just getting started with the blog, but she can be pretty funny when she lets loose. I love it when she posts photos of Cooper and Isis -- I am a sucker for dachshunds.

First published photo

One of my photos is going to be published in the Granada section of the second edition of the travel guidebook Moon Handbooks Nicaragua. I've always harbored secret dreams of being an actual photgrapher. I'm surprised it was good enough to use, especially since I took it on a point-and-shoot, piece-of-crap camera.

Here it is:




I tried to get them to use this one, which was also taken in Granada, but they were having none of it.

I missed that day in Home Ec.

Today, instead of going to the gym, I mopped the kitchen floor. Something tells me that most RBlog readers are not avid moppers, so I'll just tell you -- it's a workout. I started off with a regular old mop, applying as much pressure as I could on the handle and going back and forth over the stains, over and over again. That didn't work very well and my arms were getting tired, so eventually I got down on all fours and scrubbed with a dish sponge until the dirt came off. I wiped all the soapy foam up with hand towels. By the time I was done, I was sweaty, exhausted, and covered in hot, dirty water. I then took a moment to lean back, relax, and have a cigarette. I'm pretty sure it was as good for the floor as it was for me.

I don't really understand the whole mopping concept. Maybe there's some element of the process that I don't know about. You fill up a bucket with soap and water, dip what is basically a sponge on a stick in the water, and then brush it around on your dirty floor. The water in the bucket quickly turns brown and dirty, becoming diluted floor grime, and you continue to wipe that dirt back on your floor. Then it dries. Is that floor really any cleaner than it was before you started mopping?

How much does a BlackBerry cost?

It's already become evident to me that all of the cool kids in business school 1) own designer jeans, 2) regularly travel for business, and 3) have Blackberries, supplied by their firms. They all seem to be very organized and completely presentable -- the kind of people who bathe in showers where the grout is always sparkling white, who don't ever buy used stuff, and who go to the dentist every six months because of course they have great dental coverage. I wonder if there will be other kids for me to hang out with, too? I'm hoping for some MBA people who are into blogging, mostly wear graphic Ts they bought a couple years ago, and can't wake up in time to do their hair.

That seems doubtful, though, so maybe I should start shopping. On second thought, maybe I can infiltrate the system and covert them my flip-flops-at-work lifestyle.

The secret to perfect melons

I bought a fabulous cantaloupe this afternoon. After recently purchasing several bland, mushy ones, I have finally discovered the correct method for picking a melon. The woman who was standing next to me in the produce department seemed to know her stuff (she was clearly going through the motions of a fairly detailed selection process), so I asked her how she picks a good one. Here's what she told me:

1) Look for a cantaloupe that is yellow-tinted on the outside. You want to avoid green.
2) The outside of the melon should smell like cantaloupe. If it doesn't smell sweet, it's not ripe yet.
3) If the store doesn't have any ripe ones, you can buy a green one and keep it for a few days. It will ripen on your countertop.
4) You want a round melon (not too many dents or flat spots) that is firm, with a little bit of give. It shouldn't be hard, but it shouldn't be squishy either.

Second test score paired with discussion of natural logarithms results in tears

We got our second test back in calculus class last night. It's supposedly worth 20% of our grade. I got a C-. Okay, it might be a D+, but I'm trying to think positive. No letter grade was given; only the points were marked.

A classmate who I've been riding BART back to the city with was so upset by her grade that later in the class the instructor stopped mid-logarithm lecture to see if she was okay. "You look extremely unhappy," he pointed out to the class. I'm sure she appreciated this public discussion of her distress. "Well, I just got my test back," she said, flushed and clearly uncomfortable. He replied, "Do not worry -- it will be okay by the end of the class. No one should worry." Though vague, this reassurance did make me feel better for some reason.

He then went on to explain that calculus is not easy to understand and the material that we have managed to pack into one month of classes is normally covered in four or five months. To help illustrate his point, he asked us, "In English the saying is, 'It's all Greek to me,' yes?... I hope this is not offensive to the Greeks."

At the end of the class I asked him if there would be some way to raise our grade, since I'm worried about the prerequisite requirement for Haas. He reassured me again and said that in one of the final classes he would give us "personal questions" to complete and then we would discuss with him how we did the problems. I'm pretty sure that means personalized problems covering areas he wants to test us on again, but I'm perfectly happy to discuss my personal life if it will result in my getting a B in calculus.

The upset classmate mentioned later that she failed the test. I'm sure she was exaggerating, because she always seems to know the right answers during lectures. She also said that Engineer Dude who sits next to her got 100% on his test. All I have to say to that is -- just you wait until our business writing evaluations Engineer Dude. Just you wait.

Meet PETE, the weather pixie!

Hi! My name is PETE the weather pixie. I change my clothes according to the weather. I have many different outfits and you can tell what the weather is like by checking out which one I chose to wear and whether or not I have a poodle with me. You'll know when it's really hot, because on those days I like to sit on the front porch in my underwear and scare the neighbors.

Hip E. should be a math teacher

Check out this very helpful explanation of what an irrational number is. He just emailed it to me to aid my understanding of the number "e":

"An irrational number is one that cannot be written as a ratio of two integers. 1/2 is rational. Pi, e, and the square root of two are not.

They used to only have integers way back in the day. 1, 2, 3, etc. Then at some point somebody invented fractions and then you could have numbers like 1/2. People thought that all numbers were 'rational', that is, could be written in the form of a 'ratio'. But then the Greeks ran into a big problem: The Pythagorean Theorum. What is the length of the diagonal of a square with sides of length 1? The answer is "the square root of two." We now know that the square root of 2 is irrational, but those dudes spent years and years trying to find out the right ratio that would equal the square root of two. But they never could."

Please God, just give me a B

Hi Rebecca,

Your course is fine. As long as the course work is done by August 5th, I am OK with receiving your official transcript once school starts. However, you will not clear my list until I have received the official transcript.

If you do not earn a grade of B or better, you will not clear the prerequisite. In that case, you could not enroll in the program. Let's hope this isn't the case for you.

Regards,
XXXX
__

At 06:25 PM 7/11/2005, you wrote:

Hi XXXX,

I'm currently in the Berkeley Extension Calculus and Analytic Geometry course. Our class doesn't end until Aug. 3. XXXXXXX mentioned to me that we needed to bring some form of proof of enrollment to the Orientation. Could you elaborate on what exactly I should bring? We won't have grade reports at that time.

On a totally paranoid note, have you ever had anyone not get a B and therefore the credit didn't count towards the prerequisite? What would happen in that scenario?

Thank you for your help,

RB
--

From: XXXXX XXXXX
Date: Mon, 11 Jul 2005 17:47:12 -0700
Subject: About Your Prerequisites for the Haas EWMBA Program

Hello,

As the school year is fast approaching, we are looking forward to having you join our program. As a reminder, I wanted to emphasize that your math and/or statistics prerequisite course work must be complete prior to attending classes at Haas. If, for some reason you will be unable to complete these prerequisites before coming to Haas, you will not be able to enroll in the program this year. I know several of you have contacted the Admissions Office regarding your prerequisite status, and we appreciate the progress update. If you are encountering difficulty in meeting our deadline, please respond back to me as soon as possible with your specific situation so that we can address it.

Regards,
XXXX

My first two classes

These are the classes I'll start with at Haas (in August):

Organizational Behavior
COURSE CONTENT & OBJECTIVES:
Much of what managers do in modern organizations involves leading, communicating with, and motivating an increasingly diverse workforce. They also design jobs, reward systems, and hierarchies for accomplishing those tasks. This course is concerned with understanding organizations in order to manage them better and increase their effectiveness. It focuses on helping the manager better understand the nature and dynamics of social behavior related to organizational performance. It relates existing theory and research in the social sciences to organizations by reviewing basic concepts about individual, group and network behavior. The following is a partial list of course objectives:
1) To provide an overview of the fundamental theories and principles of organizational behavior, and to illustrate how these theories are translated into practice within organizations.
2) To demonstrate the importance of understanding behavior at the individual, the group, and the organizational levels when managing organizations.
3) To aid the development of students' leadership and interpersonal skills through analyzing their own personality and network structure.

Economic Analysis for Business Decisions
ABSTRACT OF COURSE'S CONTENT AND OBJECTIVES:
The goal of this course is to teach you how to use the tools of microeconomics to understand your business environment. There are two ways in which microeconomics is useful to managers. First, it will help you understand markets. Since business is filled with markets -- from product markets to input markets to labor markets to financial markets -- this tool will be useful in many contexts.

Second, an understanding of microeconomics in general and markets in particular can help you think systematically and strategically about creating and capturing value through the management of your firm's resources. We will analyze many practical questions faced by managers, including: How should the presence of uncertainty affect my decision process? How should I account for costs in deciding whether or not to enter a market or how to price a product? What are the effects of different pricing strategies? We will use readings and cases to develop practical insights into managing for competitive advantage.

Another photo from Jeff

I'm not sure if he also took this on the phone, or what. All he wrote was, "I think you'll like this one."

It's true, I do.

The power of technology

Due to conflicting work schedules, my main-squeeze and I don't get to spend much time together. Calculus has compounded that problem this summer, by claiming my weekends. Thankfully, his new-fangled cell phone allows me to vicariously camp, BBQ, and toss back a few cold ones while I am actually stuck at home studying the properties of the mysterious number "e" and related matters. He sends photos directly to my email account. They come from his phone number (as opposed to his email address). It's kinda weird.

Here's a shot from last weekend. Ben cookin' up a mess of meat at The Pond (Clearlake). I'm sure Jeff was drunk, smoking five cigarettes, and wearing nothing but extra-tight, extra-short track shorts when he took this. Isn't technology wonderful? Now that Jeff got this fancy phone, we don't really ever need to see each other.

I hate calculus. There. I said it.

Fugly

I'm sure you're all familiar with this, but I somehow missed it during its first year of existence. Inga sent the link this afternoon. Against my will I was immediately sucked into a Fugly vortex for at least a half an hour.

Calculus continues

I've been trying not to talk about it because I'm in denial, but I'm still hitting calculus class twice a week and trying to keep my head above water. The class ends August 3. I have to earn a B or higher in order for the class to qualify as the prerequisite for Haas.

Our grades will be entirely test-based. We got our first test back last week. I didn't do that well -- I got three correct out of five total questions. A combination of partial credit and a grading curve somehow morphed that into an 80%. I've promised myself not to freak out until next week, when we get our second tests back. I think I did worse on the second test, but I want to wait and see how the grading turns out before I begin to panic.

I can't think of anything more embarrassing than getting into grad school, but not being able to start classes because I can't cope with calculus.

For the calculus fans out there, this week we were introduced to the number "e" (similar to the concept of π, except it comes from something different), implicit derivations, and logarithms.

Nadia joins Blogland

Nadia has started her own blog, Oodles. She warned me not to have high of expectations since she was a science major, but I think it looks good so far -- she's put together interesting offerings. Nadia is a photographer and I bet she'll include some of that work, too.

Angelina Jolie adopting second child

This morning I read that Angelina Jolie just made a trip down to Ethiopia (accompanied by Brad and Maddox) to file papers to adopt a little girl. The girl is under a year old and will go by the name Zahara Marley Jolie.

I'm alarmed by how excited I am about this news. My stomach actually jumped when I saw the article.

I'm pissed!

And so is everyone else who counts on BART to get around. I've been watching news coverage of the negotiations and the reporters keep interviewing commuters in BART stations about what they think about the whole situation. The universal response is that the BART workers should suck it up and negotiate if they need to, but not walk off the job. I am impressed by the fact that even in the super-liberal Bay Area, few people seem sympathetic to the BART workers threatening to strike.

There will be no word on whether the strike is on until midnight, when BART management is holding a press conference. If they strike, BART will close down entirely resulting in total gridlock throughout the Bay Area. My plan is to work at home, but I'm not sure what to do about the calculus test I'm supposed to take in Berkeley tomorrow evening.

For the readers up North

The weather is finally warming up and it's time to get outside and enjoy the wilderness. Those of you who live in Oregon and Washington might want to pick up this new hiking guide. It's only been out for a couple of months. Hikes are organized by region and rated for difficulty and scenic beauty. Some overnight backpacking trips are included. The guide is pretty dang comprehensive.

The authors are both young, active outdoor writers. They're people who you would want to drink beers with and I sincerely feel they've done an excellent job with this guide. The book also makes a great gift for anyone in the Pacific Northwest who enjoys hiking.

Don't go see War of the Worlds

In addition to being a complete wacko, Tom Cruise has also gained my disapproval by never wearing a motorcycle helmet. In the last month, I have seen approximately 35 photos of Tom and Katie on various motorcycles. While they do wear coordinating outfits, they never wear helmets. Isn't that illegal? Even if it's not ticket-worthy, it is setting a horrible example for our nation's youth. They should be ashamed of themselves. The Cruise should think about being a role model for his children. Katie Holmes should think about why she's engaged to a fruitcake.

Ugh. I'm just disgusted.

New budget airline out of SFO

There's a new budget airline, called Song, that is now flying out of the San Francisco aiport. The airfares seem pretty cheap. They'll fly you round trip to New York for under $300, which is competitive with JetBlue's fares to New York out of Oakland. Unfortunately, the only places Song currently flies to from SFO are Boston and NYC. Not so helpful, but hopefully they'll add some new destinations soon.

Are they kidding?

The possible BART strike has been pushed back to Wednesday. Meanwhile, I read the suggestions listed on the BART site to help commuters in the event of a strike. This is one of them:

Stay overnight in downtown hotels
If you want to avoid a commute altogether, spend the night in a hotel near your worksite. The San Francisco, Oakland and Berkeley Convention and Visitors Bureaus all have resources to help you plan your stay. BART has also negotiated special rates at selected downtown hotels for BART customers.

BART thinks I have enough money to stay in a hotel in order to avoid the hassle of commuting! Maybe that's part of the reason they charge so much for their crappy service.