Robots

I'm starting a robotics team at my school this year.
We had our first meeting today - worked out the budget and mentor/coach/sponsor situation.
I'm not going to lie, I AM SUPER EXCITED.
I don't have a comp sci or engineering background but both fascinate me and I've always wanted to learn - this is going to be not just a great learning experience for me but also for all the other science club members!

SUPER PUMPED!

NOTE: It was my last day at my internship. I nearly cried when my mentor hugged me and told me she'd miss me :( Spending 10-12 weeks with someone gets you attached.

Here's an update on interesting situations/people from my everyday life:

Gay Animal Facility Man

Walking up and down the vivarium, cleaning rooms stock full of rat cages, and muttering about Tim (aka Tooshay, an animal facility manager, who apparently doesn't do his job). These are the daily activities of this particular animal facility employee (I forgot his name so let's call him Bob).

I see Bob every weekday at least 37 times (but who's counting). With his Einstein hair and bushy white beard any child could mistake him for a skinny santa. Despite our frequent rendevous, we rarely conversed - that is until TODAY.

As I pushed past the clean stack of rat cages (Bob was cleaning rat cages) placed inconveniently in front of the door, I muttered a quick "sorry" and began my quest to find rats XX5149 - XX5153 - 5 rats among the 60+ others, a daunting feat, I know. Suddenly, Bob pounces on me with a surpise question, "Are you British?" I tell him, like I tell many others on a daily basis, that I am Australian. He then starts jabbering on about guy he knows who can tell the difference between various accents etc etc...As I start zoning out and my eyes get back to the task of scanning for XX5151 (I'd found the first 2 rats by that time) I hear the words "...my husband has an amazing ability to hear..." WAIT UP! HUSBAND? I'd seen his ear piercing but that is rarely considered a sign by today's standards.

After this sudden enlightenment we began a long conversation about all-things-gay! (I'm not homosexual personally; however, I have a few gay friends and I love them to death) It was refreshing talking to Bob about the whole Prop 8 controversy in CA and all the misconceptions most Americans have about the gay community - all this talk while being surrounded by rat bedding and the retched stench of rat poo and urine...PERFECT lol.

If I had only spoken to Bob sooner, if only I had used those 37 x 5 x 12 times we had crossed paths to spark up a conversation, if only...

I should stop dwelling on the ifs and realize that I have been fortunate enough to have at least spoken to him on my last day at my internship. It was a conversation that bloomed into a friendship within the first few minutes. It was a shortlived frienship/bond that will be sorely missed. At least I know, IF I ever go back to the Zorrilla lab and walk into the vivarium I'll have a friend there waiting (unless of course he decides cleaning rat cages is boring and stinky as hell and quits).

THE Application

MIT has released its application and it has had quite the face lift!
It slightly caught me off guard at first but definitely exciting. Finally we, EA applicants, can start answering these self-probing questions.
What do you do for PLEASURE?
What do you want to STUDY?
How are you CREATIVE?
Describe your WORLD.
How did you deal with a CHALLENGE?
I have paid for my $75 ticket and I'm headed off on this two month journey to find the BEST way to put my life and who I am on paper. The word limit will be an obstacle but no journey is without its hurdles.
GOOD LUCK FUTURE CLASS OF 2014!
LIVE LONG AND PROSPER.....

Skip the month of July and onto August

Have you been on a midnight stroll? I'm sure many of you have.
But have you been on a midnight stroll and seen a yellow and black polka dot toad, caught it, set it free, caught it, set it free, then watered your garden to make sure the toad didn't get too dehydrated?

Have you rolled down an hill? It probably brings back childhood memories of green pasteurs and daffodils, baby's breath, the warmth of the sun and a bucket full of fuzzy wuzzy feelings.
But have you rolled down a concrete hill - i.e. have you rolled down a road - at a cloud's pace with the bright moon shining through the misty clouds (an eerie reminder of the werewolf stories your cousins told you in a pitch black room many eons ago)?

Have you connected the dots to make a picture? Most have - looking up at the night sky, straining your eyes to make out the few remaining stars that haven't been washed up by the atrocious light pollution.
But have you ever looked down at the road and seen the blotchy holes randomly splattered in the most convenient places and thought "wow, I can connect these dots to draw the best brain ever" (note that the brain has many curviture lines and thus, requires many dots so as to achieve those details - otherwise it would be a very rigid looking brain)?

Although, the majority wouldn't have completed these strange array of activities, some may have and that brings a smile to my face - to know that there are others, like me, who enjoy putting strange twists on the ordinary.