Written on Friday, the 13th of January, 2006 at 2:15 pm and was filed under:
Comics,
school,
Onestop
So, of course there was a debacle involving unexpected holds on my ability to register for classes in December which took a week or two to resolve. Then I thought that I had to wait to register for the 5xxx classes with my favorite professor (Carl Sturtivant) because I hadn’t finished 4041 yet, so I didn’t notice that I also needed a magic number because I am technically still a sophomore. Professor Sturtivant is in the hospital for something until after the first week of class, so I can’t get a hold of him to impress upon him how much taking his classes will fit my work schedule and general plan for graduating or at least making it through the semester without getting a machete and slaughtering a room full of classmates plus any random people on the street until the SWAT team shows up and takes me down with far too many bullets. If I were in those classes, plus the photography class that I am waitlisted for, I could conceivably take Diff EQ again this semester, thusly freeing up my summer for Spanish or perhaps (and I am terrified and shamed for even mentioning this) an internship someplace… like Google. I can’t even say that I would have a realistic chance of getting it, what with my academic record being so spotty — what with my life being so fucking spotty.
Read 235 more words, see one more image, and read 8 comments...
Written on Wednesday, the 21st of December, 2005 at 8:49 pm and was filed under:
Wallowing,
school
Truth be told, I’ve had better semesters.
Current mood: Elliot Smith
Read 3 comments...
Written on Thursday, the 27th of October, 2005 at 3:16 pm and was filed under:
Diversions,
school
It looks like I will be able to declare Computer Science as my major after this semester.
Taken:
B Math 1271 — Calculus I (4cr)
B- Math 1272 — Calculus II (4cr)
A CSci 1901 — Structure of Computer Programming I (4cr)
A CSci 1902 — Structure of Computer Programming II (4cr)
B+ CSci 2011 — Discrete Structures of Computer Science (4cr)
B+ CSci 4011 — Formal Languages and Automata Theory (4cr)
In Progress:
IP Math 2243 — Differential Equations and Linear Algebra (4cr)
IP CSci 2021 — Machine Architecture and Organization (4cr)
IP CSci 4041 — Algorithms and Data Structures (4cr)
Not Started:
- CSci 4061 — Introduction to Operating Systems
- Stat 3021 — Introduction to Probability and Statistics
9 Credits of 4xxx or 5xxx Electives:
- CSci 4131 - Internet Programming (3cr)
- CSci 5801 - Software Engineering I (3cr)
- CSci 5802 - Software Engineering II (3cr)
Writing Intensive:
IP Arts1001W - Concepts in Visual Art (4cr)
- CSci 3081W - Program Design and Development
- PHYS 1101W - Introductory College Physics I
- ArtH 3921W - Art of the Film (IP, OH, WI)
Upper Division Outside Major (14cr) (+4 Math 2243)
A RHET3102 - Digital Photography (2cr)
— Arts 3701 - Photography: Silver Processes (4cr)
— Arts 3702 - Photography: The Extended Image (4cr)
— Arts 3703 - Photography: Digital Imaging (4cr)
Art Minor:
— Arts 1701 - Photography (OH)
— Arts 5710 - Advanced Photography (4cr)
Other coursework
Biological Sciences:
HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE COURSES
SOCIAL SCIENCE COURSES
CITIZENSHIP AND PUBLIC ETHICS
CULTURAL DIVERSITY
ENVIRONMENT
INTERNATIONAL PERSPECTIVES (ArtH 3921W)
Random Classes:
- CSci 4211 - Introduction to Computer Networks (3cr) (p CSci 4061)
- CSci 5403 - Computational Complexity (3cr) (p CSci 4041)
- CSci 5421 - Advanced Algorithms and Data Structures (3cr) (p CSci 4041)
- CSci 5106 - Programming Languages (3cr) (p CSci 4011)
- CSci 5115 - User Interface Design, Implementation and Evaluation (3cr) (p CSci 4041)
- CSci 5116 - GUI Toolkits and Their Implementation (3cr) (p 5115 or 5107)
- CSci 5523 - Introduction to Data Mining (3cr) (p CSci 4041)
- CSci 5511 - Artificial Intelligence I (3cr) (p CSci 2011)
- CSci 5561 - Computer Vision (3cr) (p CSci 5511)
- INET 4081 Introduction to Software Engineering (4cr CSci 4061)
- INET 4031 Systems Administration (4cr) (p CSci 4061)
- INET 4021 Network Programming (4cr) (p CSci 4061)
Read 2 comments...
Written on Monday, the 24th of October, 2005 at 12:32 pm and was filed under:
school
I get a ton of spam in my university email.
From: “CPT Timothy T. Kemp”
Now that you have time to relax, I would like to offer you an invitation to check out the U of MN’s Army ROTC Program. It is nationally known as one of the countries top leadership programs and it has a lot to offer you. There are scholars among you who aspire to achieve something even greater than a college degree- they aspire to be leaders. Being a sophomore is an exciting time and it’s not too late to join Army ROTC.
[bla bla blaleeted]
FUCKING HOORAY!
Here’s how I’m replying:
If I join the ROTC, will the Army make me into an unstoppable killing machine? Also, does the Army even take 30 year olds? Do I have to switch from my Computer Science major to a major in killing? I have so many questions!
Sincerely,
Jesse Mullan
I can’t wait to sign up for KILL1337W - “Poorly Justified Wars of the 20th Century”! Unfortunately, it has some prereqs like KILL1001 - “Concepts In Baby Murdering”.
Read 2 comments...
Written on Tuesday, the 11th of October, 2005 at 4:43 pm and was filed under:
school
I think that you can tell where this letter is going, so I don’t need to write the rest of it.
(no partial credit on the multiple choice problems or that other one where I made a mistake in my differentiation means that I got a very bad score on the first mid-term)
Read one comment...
Written on Sunday, the 25th of September, 2005 at 1:16 pm and was filed under:
Photography,
school
Maroon and gold were aflame in the East River Flats on Friday. I stayed on the clock late to shoot the homecoming pep rally stuff for SAO and ended up having a pretty good time. Since I’m on the ins with the staff I was able to sit next to the judges of the cheer competition, which meant that I had a front row seat for the whole deal. Sorority girls and cheerleaders danced and did high kicks mere inches in front of my face.
I love marching bands, by the way, but they should cut loose with more stinky funk — as in: any stinky funk. Make use of your tubas and percussion. Better yet, make use of your whole band to get some booty motion in order. Spread the stink on the crowd!
Uh, yeah. I got paid (my hourly student employee wage) to take pictures of the cheer competitions and the bonfire. That’s the life!
Leave a comment...
Written on Thursday, the 22nd of September, 2005 at 8:00 pm and was filed under:
school,
Bikes
Art 1101W runs until 10pm on Wednesday. That’s four hours of trying to stay awake in a dark room while a smooth-voiced professor talks quietly about art. Like most of my classes, it’s a fight for consciousness. Nothing against the class, but I could have the art book in the bathroom for a week and get all the way through it. Actually, that’s not a bad idea.
During the seventh inning stretch of the class it started pouring. If you live here in Mineapolis you probably heard or saw the impressive thunderstorm that stopped by to knock down trees and power lines. As class ended I called home to inquire about a ride, but the rain seemed to stop, so I threw caution to the wind and jumped on my bike. Riding at night on wet streets lends a special feeling to the commute. Spray from my front tire leapt into the beam of my headlight as a continuous fountain.
Unfortunately another deluge hit just after I crossed Broadway. I slipped into shelter at the EZ Stop. Stan picked me up from there, but the rain seemed to let up as soon as I got my bike into the back of the station wagon. The drive up Johnson was eerie. Traffic was absent and the shops slept in silent blankets of darkness. Our headlights seemed to disappear and buildings slid away into fuzzy blackness as we swept by. One of the branches of one of the elm trees bearing an orange “X” on our street was blocking the entire width of Ulysses. At least the power was on by the time I got home.
My beer at the Nomad was a little disappointing. The bartender carded me with a serious look in his eye, but my Beamish was pulled hurriedly. Only a handful of patrons stood amidst the bar stools. No music was cued up, or the music was too quiet. I couldn’t quite get settled, so I drank up and headed to the deli to pick up my gyro. I got a shocked look when I responded that yes, indeed, I did want all the hot sauce that was offered, but it was worth it because that gyro was spectacular. My bike and I shared some of the cucumber sauce. It’s a good thing that it rained, because I didn’t quite get all of the sauce wiped off of the bike before parking it.
Tonight Zach and I went to Stub and Herbs. He had a beer and and I had an Summit Oatmeal Stout and the flavorless pasta special. We managed to talk for a bit about the Whittier project. I think that I am going to have to bust out some prototype code for restaurant location management and mapping to get the ball rolling. Imagine Google Local but more specialized: neighborhood (and/or city) specific, with hand-tagged data, and with a focus on restaurants and bars.
Before I get to work on another web project I have to work on homework and some sort of Gallery stuff. At work I will be making a new site that blends text posts with image, video, and sound management. I think. Maybe.
P.S.: I wrote this entire post in class, and I have answered so many of the teacher’s questions that he called me a kiss up, despite the fact that I have been mostly ignoring the teacher for two hours. Did he not notice the laptop on which I have been furiously typing?
Read 3 comments...
Written on Friday, the 16th of September, 2005 at 11:27 pm and was filed under:
Wallowing,
school,
Bikes
The other day Melody asked me over AIM (yahoo? I dunno which instant messaging protocol, it doesn’t matter, I say AIM like Kleenex now) if I was okay. She said that I seemed down.
Okay, now, after the lot of you stop laughing because she had to ask if I was down, here’s the weird part: I wasn’t. I was busy working or looking on ebay for stuff that I don’t bid on because I don’t need it but isn’t it nice to know that I could buy a ceramic monkey statue if I wanted one and whew I just killed an hour without making my brain do any heavy lifting. So, what is important about someone asking me if I’m okay? I dunno, she’s one of the few people to have asked it right. When I am actually feeling like crap (which, believe it or not, happens) I always want someone to ask in the pointed, tenacious way that she did. Good luck trying to get that exact phrasing and attitude correct. The wrong approach will likely just annoy the shit out of me.
I’ve been happy with the whole school thing this semester. My classes are filling the usual pattern:
- CSci 2021: super easy
- CSci 4041: interesting
- Math: I don’t really know what is going on and I’m having a hard time caring
- Art: the biggest challenge is staying awake through four hours of soothing oration
I’ve even been enjoying the torment of exercise in bicycle form. My Surly is comfortable and fast. I can pick it up with one hand without even a grunt. It hurts like hell to ride up Johnson and my ass hurts when I get on the bike in the morning.
Goddamnit, I like my boss’s blog better than mine: The domain of Xopl. This should not come to a surprise to those persons who regularly visit my junk drawer of a web site. I could have gone for booze with him tonight, but I don’t want to worry about not being able to catch a bus back from the useful parts of Minneapolis at bar close.
I wonder if anyone is home. I need a drink. Maybe I should bike to Grumpys.
billa-billa-billa, pretty eyes.
Read 2 comments...
Written on Tuesday, the 6th of September, 2005 at 1:50 pm and was filed under:
school
I rode my new bike to school today, which meant that I didn’t bring any coffee. Fool! CSci 4041 made me very sleepy, so the natural thing happened. It seems that I have synced up my class schedule with all of my junior and senior friends, so three of my classes will be populated with nerds I know, and the other one is my art class. I am the win!
Read 3 comments...
Written on Friday, the 2nd of September, 2005 at 12:40 am and was filed under:
Diversions,
Family,
school
Hey, another semester, another hold! According to my new projections and calculations, next semester will be the last hold, which kind of sucks, because I ordered a big rubber stamp that says “you douchebags had better lift the hold so I don’t have to burn down the Alumni center” — wait, no it says “I dropped all those classes eight years ago! I’m old! OLD OLD OLD!” That usually works, we’ll see what they say. Of course, first I have to get the signature of my advisor, who is probably very tired of me charging into her office screaming hellfire and damnation.
“Take it to the mall with your proselytising!” she shouts, so I retire to the corner opposite the Jesus dude and rant for a good hour or two before remembering that all I need is a signature.
Oh yeah, this is the last semester of math! Ever! I will have beaten it! (this time I’m not talking about beating it in the sense of cranking one out in the bathroom of the local restaurant Pop! during a non-date to stay relaxed. Speaking of Pop!, they are opening a pizza and ice cream shop called Snap! as in “oh, snap!” or “snap, crackle, and constant indoctrination of consumerism.” Also, the Hollywood theater might be reopening?)
With that paperwork filled out, I apparently just have to reapply for a SELF loan for 2005-2006 again, because the U can’t be bothered to keep track of loans for which I am already approved. To reapply I will have to get my mom to fill out the cosigner business again, then fill out the forms myself, then print it all, have her get it notarized and send it all off. Then I get to call my dad and explain why I blew him off at the fair and that he needs to buy 16 credits worth of schoolbooks for me. There might be some lying on my part. I’m just saying. It might happen.
“No, Denise is not an earthly incarnation of Cthulu. Really. She’s the greatest person ever. That goes for you, too! I’m not bitter about you being an asshole at all!”
I may have to work on that a little, but I have at least a week before I have to have him in my place of employment checking out the freshman girls.
Leave a comment...