Back from San Jose. Many stories worth telling, but really, only one phrase sticks in the mind:

Pastry Chef Fernando Arreola...

I mean, how horribly awesome is that?

In any action movie worth its salt, there's a point when some nebbish carrying a load of packages gets caught up in a chase scene. One moment he's enjoying daily life, half asleep, and the next he's sprinting, running with a swagger because of the fifth of bourbon he's carrying, chasing some camel-masked idiot in a shopping cart that seems ( Read more... )

and here's what happens when you actually read the dedication pages on theses:

"I also must single out my advisor, Pierre Gremaud, for special thanks. Despite my pure
mathematical upbringing, he took a chance and invested much of his time and energy into
assisting me to become an applied mathematician. He also helped me become a penguin."

The reason I haven't posted much is not because there's so little going on, but because the details are generally irrelevant. Y'know, quantum p-set, solid state p-set, astro-fucking p-set. Occasional bouts of insanity, more social interaction than the nadir I hit a little while ago, but less than I'd like. That's pretty much the story ( Read more... )

"Hey there Andrew ( Read more... )

"Due to kickball game this Friday, there’s no Physics 500 ( Read more... )

I was really, really trying to get angry about Cobain's new status as "richest dead celebrity." I was going to be petulant about the juxtaposition of anti-corporate frustration and unquestioned mass-media success. I was going to comment on the surreality of us keeping these lists, as if the dead were people. And then I noticed #5 on the list: ( Read more... )

Let's have a little more context to go with the controversy:

"In the seventh conversation (*4V8,>4H - controversy) edited by Professor Khoury, the emperor touches on the theme of the holy war. The emperor must have known that surah 2, 256 reads: "There is no compulsion in religion". According to the experts, this is one of the suras of the early ( Read more... )

For "House of Leaves":

Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs):
dwarf nuns, neon markers, tattoo shop

Well, just finished a marathon (4+ hr, hey it's a marathon for me) tournament. (The first round in the Moneymaker Millionaire, if anyone cares ( Read more... )