Category: Uncategorized

The new term is now in full swing, and I’m enjoying myself. I finally get to choose (all but one of) my classes this year, and I find them all both engaging and challenging. Here’s as understandable an explanation I can make of all the classes I’m taking:

Artificial Intelligence (AI): Speaks for itself, mostly. I’ll be learning everything from decision-tree algorithms to how we can make robots think, learn and be “intelligent.” I don’t know what our project will be yet, but last year’s was to create the “mind” for a robot like a roomba. Ideally, if attached to …

This past week, my boyfriend and I went to Spain and Gibraltar. It was beautiful, but I never quite got used to the humidity. Evening was the most tolerable, and so we often slept in. I wish we’d woken up earlier some days, since we only got to the beach twice: once in the evening as the sun was setting and once on the day of our flight, after we realized the beach was worth getting up early for.

The beach was incredible. The water, since it was so salty and it’s the Mediterranean after all (despite Gibraltar being near …

Surprisingly close to my flat is this gorgeous building, the Kelvingrove Art Gallery. It’s free to enter and would take the better part of a day to really appreciate everything. I’ve been in Scotland for almost a year now and hadn’t been inside until a few days ago. It’s almost a crime… though my friends tell me quite a few Glasgwegians haven’t been, either.

Almost everything is in the wings of the building. From ancient Egypt to the history of Glasgow to famous works of art by Van Gogh and Salvador Dali, they’ve got it all. I enjoyed their …

Edinburgh was beautiful. If I hadn’t lost my camera’s cable and battery charger, I would have taken pictures. I went with my boyfriend, who doesn’t know a lot of Neil Gaiman’s work. We decided he should come along kind of at the last minute, so he didn’t see the talk. We arrived at the festival barely in time for Neil Gaiman’s presentation. Signing afterward took a long time, then we barely made the train home after eating quickly. This all means I will certainly be going back one of these weekends with the boyfriend to see the sights. I did …

Today I’ve finished my third day of work. I’m enjoying it so far, and I think I will long-term. I haven’t really got to work on the project I’m supposed to be doing yet, but it’s a necessary thing. I have to set up my computer how I like it first, and then start researching and studying the things I’m working with: the Havok physics engine and Android programming. We’re not actually sure yet if I can combine the two, but we’re finding it out, and in the meantime I’m reading up on them and trying some programming tutorials. The …

Moved into my new flat today. Haven’t met everyone, but it’s a nice place. Top floor! I like it much better than the ground floor, where I was before, but it was a pain to bring all my stuff up today. Also, bigger fridges, and fewer people. I don’t get my own sink in my room anymore, but the rest is a relief. Not much else happening, mainly getting used to being in Scotland again. Saw the cutest kitten today, my boyfriend’s sister got it for her kids (I should have taken pictures…). Work starts Monday, so I won’t have …

My travels to Scotland were fairly uneventful, apart from a few minor things.

First, I’d like to complain about airport security again. I finally got my teeny tiny swiss-army-knife-type thing taken away (bought it at Claire’s, can barely cut anything with it). They found it in the x-ray machine. And I’ve been on about 5 flights now from the US to the UK and back, and it hasn’t been found yet. I could complain about it being taken away, but… aren’t they supposed to find all knives immediately? What if I had wanted to stab someone’s eye out with it? …

Grand Canyon – South Rim

First of all, I apologize for the length. I took notes along the road so that I would remember things I wanted to talk about–and there ended up being quite a few!

The day started out early. At 7:10 the tour bus met mom and I at our hotel in Sedona and we headed out to pick up the rest of the people. One couple was in Sedona, the rest in Flagstaff.

Our first sight, which only us and the other couple got to see, was Oak Creek Canyon. It’s where all the water in …

I experienced it like never before yesterday, hiking the Boynton Canyon Trail. Mom and I chose it because the pamphlet said “easy, 2.5 miles one way.” We chose not to bring water (looking back, I don’t really know why we didn’t prepare more) or food. I think we figured it wouldn’t take very long.

It started out great. Lizards and butterflies everywhere, looming red rock all around us. After a while, we figured it had been two miles, and asked someone how much farther. They said it was another 3/4 of a mile. After a time, we asked again, and …