The Myth & The Majesty

Today, I spent the larger part of seven hours hanging out in the lodge at Terry Peak (a ski spot here in the Hills). I possess the attention span of a five-year-old, and since this is not conducive to the reading I was trying to do, I instead spent a fair amount of time people watching. It's pretty awesome. The strange assortment of people ... There are the business/yuppie/higher-up types, the middle and high school kids, the families, and the twenty-somethings. Within these groups, there are those from out of town and the native South Dakotans, and within these are the skiers, the snowboarders, and the lodgers. I, for instance, am a native South Dakotan twenty-something lodger. The families are interesting. For the most part, they're skiers (with the exception of some older siblings), and it's rather fun to watch the littlest kids skiing circles around their respective fathers. A person can't help but get a kick out of the yuppie skiers, either. Full ski suit...

I was laying on my bed (well, mattresses in Room 1) today, contemplating the existence of parallel universes. Okay, so maybe that's not how it started. I didn't get bored, then suddenly go, "Hey, this is a good time to contemplate the existence of parallel universes." No, it started much more vaguely than that. However, the origin of this self-conversation is unimportant. It's only the end results that I feel like discussing. Back to it then. This whole parallel-universe thing mystifies me. In theory, every decision made by any singular person could spur one "universe," while the opposite decision is played out in a separate universe, all of which overlap in a sense. This is something of a paraphrased version of the the premise behind the Michael Crichton book Timeline. (The book, not the movie; the book is far more in-depth and you hardly get so much as a taste in the movie. After all, that's the purpose of a book made into a movie -- short...

Merry Christmas! I love this. This is awesome. I'm currently at my favorite place in the world, and tomorrow I'm headed to my second favorite place in the world. What more could a girl ask for? Christmas was great. Santa was very kind to me. And, more excitingly, I think people liked the presents I got them. I was worried ... This year wasn't quite as extravagant or creative from my end. I was more poor than usual, and my poor brain was worked half to death before Christmas shopping began (and I needed that other half for regular motor functions, like walking and chewing food). Still waiting for official word on Russia. Here's hoping. Even if I'm not too concerned. Not a high rejection rate with these things ... but there's always that chance. Um ... Let's see here. My trip to Minneapolis to pick up my sister was cool. Traffic is nuts there, but slow. As opposed to Denver, which is traffic jams at 80 miles an hour. Egads. Oth...

Ah, home. At least for a few more days ... Went out to Minneapolis yesterday to pick up the sister. On the way back today, we stopped in Mankato and dropped in on Dan the Disappearing Man. It was awesome to see him again. Even better to see how happy he is ... A few emails ago, I wasn't so sure, but now life seems to be good for him again. Umm ... Well, as of this moment, I've passed all of my classes. Only two more grades to go. Now, if you'll pardon a brief "deep moment" ... Life is good, but feeling rather directionless right now. One of those times in life where you know what you want, but you're not really sure how to get there ... or if getting there is even a possibility. Guess I'll be heading back to Tech, regardless, and who knows what can happen from there. Merry Christmas, everybody! Why do people take drugs anymore, when reality is the hallucination? What are you taking hallucinogens for? It's redundant. -Lew...

It is December 17th, right? I only ask because today I'm running around in a tank top and flip-flops. I think I'm justifiably confused. Well, tomorrow it's home again. In five hours, I will officially be done with this week's, this month's, this semester's festivities. I can't wait. In the meantime, I sit (almost) alone in a computer lab, waiting for the hour to appear so that I may fulfill my fate and suffer through the heat transfer final. No, wait -- never mind, that's what I meant. I think. Let's see here ... Ah yes. I think I'm about due for a rant. After all, all three of you that read this don't do it to stay caught up with my life, now, do you? I think the only truly appropriate thing to rant about right now is Christmas. Now, I love Christmas. I love the snow, I love the shopping, I love the food, the fireplace, the tinsel, the lights, the gaudy plastic Santas, the music, the whole atmosphere that seems to t...

Wow, this is awesome. Okay, so yesterday didn't start off well. As a matter of fact, I wanted very much to cry by 9:00 in the morning. My thermo final was horrid. Bad. Icky. BUT. But occasionally, strange things happen. For instance, I decided about a month ago that I wanted to go to Russia next July. Puts a bit of a damper on the whole "Hey, I need a job this summer" thing. Until last week ... Last week, I got an email from a professor here on campus, asking if I was interested in doing research this summer (a position I applied for last summer but didn't get, as some of you may remember). I said yes, I'm interested, but I'm planning on being out of the country for the entire month of July, so thanks but no. Yesterday afternoon, I get another email from the same professor. That's okay. If you're still interested, we might be able to work around that. Happy dance! So, if things continue to work out, I might get both w...

NO! I'm not selling a heat exchanger. I am, however, designing one for one of my classes, and that's how much our best-looking one costs so far. (I can't wait for the responses I get now from people who missed this first paragraph and actually want a heat exchanger ... Oops.) Well, life continues. I'm tired. Since 4AM yesterday, I've gotten 3 hours of sleep. My eyes burn, my lids drop, and my brain can't focus on the screen in front of my face (which is probably why I'm watching the keyboard instead). I can't wait for this week to be over with. I'm one of those nerds that actually enjoys finals week, to some extent. There are no meetings, you only spend a couple hours each day in a classroom, and there's no homework due. Every morning, doughnuts appear in the lobby. The dorms are quiet, and you're packing up to go home, looking forward to Christmas, New Year's, and three weeks with no homework or studying to do. The tes...

Do you believe in spontaneous combustion? I do. Why? In these last few days, I've gotten a strange feeling in the pit of my stomach that felt a bit like a spark. Or maybe it was just rage. I don't know. Anyway, I'm claiming death by spontaneous combustion to be A) my preferred choice of death this week and B) likely in the next nine days or so. Part A is easy. Just think -- if you were to spontaneously combust, you'd be infamous. No one would believe what just happened. And besides, in order for a person to actually be reduced to ash, it would be a pretty intense flame, therefore much preferred to, say, dying in a dorm fire. Part B? Well, as one friend pointed out, if it's in the next nine days, it's more "combustion" than "spontaneous." Anyway, I need to get back to work. Does anyone have an answer to a steady diet of Jolly Ranchers and fruit juice? Does anyone want to send me real food? That'd be super. Rad...

I've been reading a blog, linked from the main Blogger site. You should check it out. It's at http://breakupbabe.blogspot.com It's pretty awesome. Anyway, onto the real topic at hand. I had one of those moments today when I realized why I was here. One of those, "Oh yeah, I remember now" kind of things. We've been doing this MAPS lab thing for fluids lab (which means nothing to those who aren't chem-es), but the bottom line is, it's a fun lab. You have to "design" (not much of that ... mostly just solve a few equations and see what happens) a system for pumping water up to a tank, then build it and make it work. I know, I know, it doesn't sound terribly exciting, but I thought it was fun. One of those things where you work it out, then put it into action. Good stuff. After I finished that, I booked it to the library. During that short jaunt, I saw about four students walk out of a neighboring building, yukking it up ...