Lots of Aluminum Lately

 I have been handling lots of aluminum lately. I attended MakeMIT 2020 this weekend as a mentor and sponsor staff member for Shell Techworks. I saw a lot of interesting projects being built by many people I know around campus. I spent a good chunk of this past weekend working on psets. I feel that my approach towards psets has drastically changed this semester. While I am getting a slight bit of senioristis (or general malaise), I have a small enough course load to focus more on individual assignments. Anyways, I built a laptop stand with 80/20 at the event and got some good food talking with hackers.

Cryotel CT Engine!

Small RTD

I've been eating a lot of french toast

Painting!

Post-Valentine's Day: Running 26 Miles in 26 Hours

 Yesterday was Valentine's day, it was mostly a normal day like any other. I woke up a bit late behind schedule and rolled into a meeting about 2.014. After that, I went and picked up flowers from the AXO charity event in the Stata center. When I got back to East Campus dormitories to give the flowers to Ally, I found she was in bed. The flowers were a bit long so she trimmed them and put them by her TV.

Today, I am running 26 miles over the course of 26 hours. Each hour I have a task or two to complete. The running helps to break up the work into manageable chunks without letting me get too distracted. A friend of mine, Sarah W., is running with me. One of our example routes (1 mile) is shown below. I think things will get harder when we start running at 4AM.

A bright but cold week ahead :)

Apartment Considerations for the Coming Year

 My current plan after graduation is to live locally in Cambridge/Somerville for at least a year. I am in a group of five MIT class of 2020 undergraduates who seek to live together. Last night, four of us got together and figured out some main points about living together. We addressed some potential apartments in the area that are within our price range and living considerations.

One example we considered is self-called 'SSDH'. This alumni house is listed as a 4 bed, 2 bath apartment unit. It exists as an example we can judge our options against.

I am looking forward to getting outside of East Campus. While it has been a great place to meet interesting people, I am starting to value a clean, organized space more.

Outside in the EC Courtyard

Vancouver Art Gallery photo

Cooking before the Semester Starts

 Ally says I don't cook enough vegetables. So last night I made a duo of roast root veggies. I seasoned carrots and red potatoes with pepper, salt, garlic, onion powder, and rosemary. After, I set them in the oven at 350F for about 25 minutes. In addition, I made some porkchops and scrambled eggs. I actually ate very little of it last night and instead snacked on it this morning. I should get better at cooking roasts and vegetables since I should probably consider getting off the dormitory cooking lifestyle once I get my apartment.

Book Review: The Sun Also Rises

Two nights ago, I finished a book by Hemingway. After reading his most popular work about a fisherman catching a marlin, I was quite hooked on the writing style and simplicity of the prose. As far as novels go, I appreciate a story that focuses on adventure. The main character of Hemingway's The Sun Also Rises is an adventurer even though they may not acknowledge the fact. As protagonist Jake Barnes travels with friends, first around Paris and later around eastern Spain, we learn more about an odd love pentagon (2 more sides than the traditional love triangle). Michael, Cohn, a previous husband, a new bullfighter, and Jake himself all have an infatuation with an aspect of a particular Lady Ashley Brett. This women represents something different to nearly every major male character in the story. It seems they all rely on her words and actions desperately. Along the way we learn more about why each particular love of Brett's has fallen for her.



(Spoilers ahead)
Whether it was for stability, passion, or fear; the men who fall for her are trying to fill some lackluster part of their own life by having Brett. Unfortunately, we find that 4 sides of the love pentagon do not find what they want in Brett and that she was simply a mirage to the hopes they once placed in her. In the end, Jake finds Brett as his love because he is the first one who treats her (almost) as an equal pattern and a friend). I found the commentary in this story, set in the 1920's, as a great way to compare the operation of interpersonal relations in the modern age.

7.5/10

Vancouver Art Gallery Notes

The Vancouver Art Gallery building is a nice gem of a building only a block away from the downtown Vancouver City Centre stop on the Canada Line metro station.  Similar to the Detroit Institute of Arts, the greco-roman facade outside seems to hide the entirely modern internal architecture. While there are ionic pillars outside, large plate glass rests around the main lobby. I enjoyed visiting this place today with Ally and we got to see a variety of paintings and photographs. One main exhibit in particular featured an artist whose photographs depict an enormous range of emotion and scene.

Link to photos: https://photos.app.goo.gl/EzAn3r4xrcJ2Au7w8

Stanley Park in Vancouver

Today I visited Stanley Park in Vancouver. I am in Canada to support my girlfriend Ally on her trip here to attend a conference. She works in liver model research at MIT with the Griffith lab. Tomorrow, while she is mostly spending time at workshops and a poster session I will find a quaint coffee shop and attempt to get some work done.





I will lend some remote support to my colleagues in the MIT Rocket Team and start running some Geant4 simulations with the new front end tools I have been using. Also, I will be looking at a project from my work at Shell Techworks and seeing what I can do in that respect.

More photos here

Bridge to Northern Vancouver

From Stanley park looking up river

Totem Poles

Near the seawall