Today I had breakfast with my dad, got a haircut, bought some toiletries, got SEPTA tokens from PNC, bought groceries at TJ's, watched À Bout de Souffle, sent some e-mails, did some Christmas shopping, checked e-mail, ate dinner, and went for a work-out.
Doing all of the above was a pleasure today, as I didn't feel compelled by tight deadlines. It's odd--I really did accomplish a lot, but it seemed like a day off in comparison to what I'm used to. The movie was excellent. The first time I watched it I thought it sucked, but I really liked it this time around. Also, with my e-mails, I got back down to zero unread e-mails for the first time since October. It's such a relief to have finally gotten to the end of them.
Tomorrow I'm going to order a present, do some French, maybe deal with some BS with Sprint, and possibly mess around with GIS. Ben is coming up tomorrow night, and earlier I might hang out with Bjorn. It should be a sweet day.

There were a couple of things that happened yesterday that were so nice that they deserve mention. First, Shiva and I went to Fugakyu in Brookline for dinner. The place had a hilarious interior--it was colorful and almost looked like Japanese Disney Land. Some diners had private rooms with sliding doors covered with translucent material. The food was excellent, and it was the first incredible meal I've had so far in Massachusetts.
Later I had a lovely moment where I was doing paperwork at my desk, listening to Rachmaninoff, having a little bit of brandy, and outside my window it started snowing. It was perfect.
Today I left Cambridge in the morning, spent most of the day on the train, got dinner with my dad at the Indian place in Media, and came home and unpacked. The train is definitely the most pleasant option between plane, train, or bus. I read the latest issue of Philadelphia magazine, which was quite good. They managed to make yet another article about cheesesteaks interesting and relevant beyond food--nice job.
Tomorrow, and during the whole break in general, my primary goal is to relax. This means sleep, reading, eating, and hanging out. However, there are a few things I need to do. Tomorrow I want to get a haircut, pick up some groceries and toiletries, use my Amazon gift cards possibly to get some people gifts, and write to some people in Kyoto about possibly meeting up with a design/planning student there. I'm going to be in Kyoto for a few days after Tokyo, and I think it would be cool to meet someone there and have them show me some interesting stuff and make a new friend.

Depending on how you look at it, Rollins may have been right about 100 wins. If you include the post season, I think the Phillies have won 102 games. Now let's see one more and I'll party like it's 1999.

I spent today working on my mid-term, hanging out with Shiva, meeting her sister, and discussing readings in my Gateway recitation group. My focus is on one goal tomorrow: finishing the Gateway mid-term.

I'd like to try to do this again. Documentation, reflection, and planning are all important activities.
I had Gateway this morning, did some work, went for a bike ride, had cake that Shiva brought me, watched the Phillies win game 1 of the World Series, and did some reading for tomorrow. I really appreciate all the birthday wishes that I got today, so thank you for anyone included in that group reading this.
The main focus of the next few days will be the Gateway take home mid-term. I have Econ and EPP tomorrow before lunch. Tomorrow afternoon I plan to work on the final GIS project in CRON, although I may spend most of that time reading about the LEED-ND indicators. I'm not going to stress too much about that until after the Gateway project is over.
I'm going to see if I can move my research work and meeting until early next week, again, for the same reason that everything else is being de-emphasized. One non-school task I would like to accomplish tomorrow is to set up proctoring at the local Kaplan center. Tomorrow night is another Phillies game, and since this is the World Series, I'll be watching again.

Today was registration, which was pretty straightforward. In a surprising twist, registration was actually simpler here than at SJC--the one and probably only time MIT will be less complex as an institution. I over-loaded up front to "shop" classes, as the upperclassmen recommended, but I'm sure I'll be down to a normal schedule very soon.
Later in the day I went to a Civil Engineering BBQ. I'm not sure I was supposed to be there, but it was great, because I got to meet people whose work has some overlap with what I'm interested in. I met some professors (some of whom teach in DUSP), and it was overall a great event.

I went and had dinner with two Johnnies tonight, as well as a group of their friends, and it was very nice. They were mostly from a lab that I think is called the Comparative Media Lab, and in reality I think they're mainly studying video games. Hearing their talk made me think I picked the wrong field. They spend lab time playing video games, watching movies, and reading comics, and then doing studies on their impacts on society. It seems there's a lab for most anything here.
Creating lists and things of that nature to manage my time seems silly right now. I know what I need to do--basically, complete my next assignment--so I'm trying to adapt my system to the situation that I'm in. Plus, the reviews and evaluations take tons of time, and it's not as if there's that much room for creative decision making here.
My room is starting to come together. I wish I could have had a week to work on just this aspect of moving in. Tomorrow is registration, and after that, things will be insane, so I hope that I don't still have boxes sitting around my room in November.

The time is going by quickly. I attended a math review for the econ class, continued setting things up, went to a computer workshop, completed the IT assignment, set up some software stuff, and worked my way through a back-log of e-mails.
I really enjoyed the math this morning, though I was probably one of few. It made me realize how much I miss the math we did at SJC and how sweet it was to be in a place where everyone was pumped about math. Of course, I could walk one building over and find more than enough people at this institution fitting that profile, but still, they're not in planning. Regardless, it was sweet, and a little logarithms and calculus made for a sweet morning.
The computer workshop was also cool. I feel like I'm learning an immense volume of things while I'm here, which I guess is the point.
Tomorrow I'm going to let myself sleep in a bit, do grocery shopping, work out the budget transition from the summer to the academic year, start ordering text books, work on MORE admin (I know, it must sound like I'm making things up at this point, but there's so much involved her), and then maybe hang out in the evening.
I applied to 3 research positions so far (I can't remember if I posted about that). I should know the results from those applications by next Tuesday or Wednesday.

Network failed at my apartment, which threw my schedule into chaos. I'm just wrapping up an application for another RA position (the third I've applied to). They all sound great, two of them have incredible compensation, and the third still has really good compensation. It would be amazing to get any of them. We'll see--updates forthcoming.
Being social again is fun. So many people, and everyone seems really cool. We had a big dinner tonight with all the grad students.

Today was a bunch more orientation. I got to meet some more people, and SCC hosted a dinner for us which was really nice. So far this week I've increased my push-up and pull-up reps in my work-outs to a higher amount than normal, and it's seems fine, which is great. Tomorrow I'm going to do cardio, and for that exercise, I plan to bike around Cambridge to get a better idea of the layout of my neighborhood.
Tomorrow is a lot more orientation. Hopefully I can get my loans more under control admin-wise, plus I want to call about a research opportunity, get my credit union log-in problem fixed, mail in some rebate forms, and set up the utilities in my name. Fun fun fun.

Today was the first day of orientation, and it was great. We broke out into small groups and went on a kind-of scavenger hunt through different neighborhoods in Boston. The point was for us to make friends with each other, and we did. After we got back we had group discussions about the neighborhoods we visited, then we all went over to a campus bar and hung out. Later I worked out, ate dinner, responded to some e-mails, and took care of more of this seemingly endless admin.
At the moment I'm trying to finish things, at which point I'll go to bed, and when I get up, I'll make a schedule, but mostly it'll be dominated by orientation activities.

I followed my schedule pretty closely for today. I got up, ate breakfast, cleaned the house for a bit, walked toward Kendall Sq while checking out the Carnival, went shopping for some clothes, went to the graduate student welcome BBQ, and did an hour of French.
Carnival was crazy. It was like the African festival in Philadelphia. The outfit the girls in the parade were wearing were insane. There was a lot of music and barbeque--it seemed cool.
Shopping was nerve wracking as always, but I'm happy with the way things turned out. Consciously selecting how to present yourself to the world is both exciting and scary. Anyway, I think it was fine.
The BBQ was nice. I went with John and met up with some other DUSPers. I also managed to meet some non-planning students, which was cool. Two were electrical engineers, one was in architecture, and another was in "science writing".
Tomorrow my orientation starts, which is crazy to think about. We have a variety of events, which all conclude around 7. After that point I need to call Direct Loan Servicing Center, go for a workout, call Citibank about deferring my SJC loans, do a bit of paperwork, and hopefully get to study Economics.

Today I worked out budgeting and finance planning, downloaded some software, went for a jog around the neighborhood, did a partial work-out set, picked up some misc. items at Wallgreens, spent 1 hour doing Economics, spent 2 hours doing French, synced my iCal with the department calendar, and set up a department RSS feed.
Overall my day was solid. I got up 3 hours later than I wanted to, even though I went to bed on time. I was willing to let that slide since I'd been getting such little sleep before that. I felt anxious when I was working out my budgeting and administrative stuff. I think I've been pushing myself too hard lately. I had a nice talk with Ricardo when I was making dinner. When I went to Wallgreens I allowed myself to get a bit of junk food with the intention of eating it moderately over time, and today I was successful at it, though it was challenging. There's no reason why I shouldn't be able to eat snacks so long as they're eaten in harmless quantities. In fact, it'll make me better off since I'll be happier.
Tomorrow I'm going to help with the house clean, go shopping for new clothes, attend a grad student BBQ, and put in another hour each on French and Economics.

I continued my administrative work today. I signed the lease, met with the housemates on some planning issues, updated some of my accounts with new addresses, did other misc. admin, and had dinner with Eric.
I'm feeling more settled than I was. If I get a solid sleep tonight I should be approaching the threshold of healthy sleep balance. Meeting with Eric was nice. We had falafel in central square and talked for a while about various things. I already feel like I'm building a community the likes of which I haven't had since SJC. That's a huge benefit of school. I also randomly saw my instructor from last summer's program.
I think having gone to the open house is having a huge effect on my state of mind in these days preceding the start of school. I'm not really nervous, and I feel like I already know so many people. I probably felt more nervous last summer for my program than I do now entering grad school! Anyway, that's good.
I've noticed a phenomenon with my own working habits. Let's say I have two sets of endeavors, A and B. Let's say A is something like, "study the economics book in preparation for the test-out", and let's say B is something like, "get all of your paperwork in order". It's better to do a some A and some B simultaneously than it is to plan to do all B first, until it's finished, and then do all A. You would think that it wouldn't matter. Let's say I have 50 hours to spend in a multi-day period. If I spend the first 25 on B and the second 25 on A, that should be the same as if I spend every other hour in sequence alternatively between B and A, right? Actually, it doesn't seem to work out that way. The net productivity seems higher if I alternate or do them both at the same time.
In light of that, tomorrow I intend to do some economics and some administrative work. Part of my admin is downloading some software, updating some remaining accounts with my new address, and sorting out the new rents at the apartment.

Today was more administrative tasks, mainly. I went to the realty office to start the process of getting the apartment paperwork finished, then I went grocery shopping, took a nap, and helped John paint his room. I'm still in a huge sleep debt, which I intend to make up in the coming days.
I met two of my other roommate, both of whom seem cool. This should be a good house to live in.
Tomorrow will basically be more admin, which is the bulk of what I'll likely be doing for now.

Quick post, because I'm exhausted. I moved up to Cambridge today after a long night of packing, cleaning, and painting. I'm extremely grateful for all the help people gave me at various times during the process. The place looked beautiful on the way out.
The ride up was decent. Once I got there I moved in, returned the rental truck, got set-up on a basic level, did some book keeping, and wrote some e-mails. The apartment is sweet, and the roommates I've met so far are really nice. Being in Cambridge seems kind of familiar at this point, like when I got here, I was thinking, "ok, you're back here again, cool. Let's get back to work"

I saw Radiohead tonight, which was great. Here's the set list: http://www.ateaseweb.com/2008/08/13/radiohead-live-in-camden-nj-live-report/ . I was pleased with the song selection overall. They played two of my favorite songs from Hail to the Thief (There There and Where I End and You Begin), and the version of the Gloaming they did was awesome. I was shouting for them to play Polyethylene but no luck with that one.
As much as I expected the show to be good, I didn't expect the ferry ride to be such a pleasure. The Camden waterfront is actually pretty nice, and at night, hanging out by the water and looking at Philadelphia, everything was lovely. It would make for a romantic night to take the ferry over for a show, hang out in the park, and then take the ferry back.

I'm back where it all started. Right now I'm in the St. John's College library in Annapolis writing this post. This is the exact seat where I was sitting 3 years ago when I started using the blog. Back then I no job, car, internet, or phone. A lot has changed since that time, mostly for the better. I can still remember exactly how I felt then--overall, I'm glad it's now and not then.
On Wednesday I hung out with Dan. That night we went to Horizons, which was sweet. I thought Dan would be blown away by the Seitan BBQ wings, but he didn't think they were that great. He did, however, really like the setain steak, so that was good.
Yesterday I came up to Annapolis. I said hi to my old co-workers and then went over to Andy and Laurel's for dinner and to stay over. The 3 of us plus Jin played Badminton in the yard and just generally had a nice time hanging out and talking.
Today I came back into Annapolis with Andy, said bye to my co-workers, and in a bit I'm going to meet up with Mark and hang out for the day.
There's an opening for a research position at school that offers full tuition reimbursment and a stipend, so I'm definitely applying. I bet the competition will be tough, but whatever, I'm going to apply and see what happens.
PS: the Baltimore Greyhound station is still an insuffrable dump.

Hallelujah. The universe spared me from two more meals of rice and beans. I ended up meeting Amnon and Avital in the afternoon, which resulted in being taken to Monk's and La Colombe, and then at night, I stopped into the Kaplan center to drop off the tests that I proctored, and there was a bunch of extra pizza sitting on the counter. I warmed it up in my oven, had a glass of wine, played Charlie Parker, and my malaise was instantly lifted. Spartan regimes have a major drawback in that they're depressing as hell. Vigor, happiness, and excitement add a lot to any endeavor. Once again, I've been shown that eating good food and treating the activity as something special, is highly important.

Some days you're on a roll and other days it's a battle. The day started out pretty well--I basically prepared for my lesson, got myself ready, and I also ended up talking to a potential tenant to take my place once I leave. He seems like a cool guy, I hope it works out for him (and for me too, if he decides he likes the paint job so I don't have to paint it back to white). Class itself went well, and when I came back, I finished my exercise and capped a strong first half of the day.
It was after my class that I started to falter a bit. I was desperately craving to go out and get some food, maybe get some snacks, and watch a movie or something, just chill out. I mentioned before that I've been eating beans, rice, and vegetables for lunch and dinner exclusively for the last week or two, both to save money and for my health. Of course, eating out violates both of the principles that motivated my current regimen to begin with.
My first response was to use my free Potbelly's Sandwiches gift card for dinner, thereby ending my craving without spending money or getting anything too unhealthy. I walked to the place, but it was already closed when I got there. It's an absolute miracle that I didn't collapse right then and there and get some junk food or something. I walked back to the apartment, pulled out my beans, rice, and vegetables, and tried my best to be positive about the whole thing.
After dinner the cravings didn't end, but I kept battling. I let myself mess around on the internet to try to distract myself. I ended up watching player interviews from Eagle's training camp, and that actually helped me to stay focused. I saw Brian Dawkin's mad face looking at me if I gave up my program and went to the corner store, so I held tight. In the end, I didn't cave in, and I even got a little bit of work done, so I can count this as a victory, though not an easy one.