trippy

Nathalie's Apartment

Below is a panoramic picture of Nathalie's apartment. Her brother came over and took a couple of photos and put them into a program which then put them all together in what you see below very simply and painlessly. I'll ask her brother next time I see him what the name of that program is. Ion, her cat, is on the couch, and you can see our computers in the study (hers are the most easily seen, while my computer is hidden behind the wall. Obviously, this was taken at Christmas and does not show the awesomness of the kitchen.

Click for a larger image.

L.I.F.E

For some reason, I feel like blogging again, at least for the time being.

Things have been. I (don't know if I've said this) have started a second major in computer science (along with my first major of math), so I'm taking lots of computer science classes this semester: lots of programming. Thankfully, I like programming. Also, I like math, so I'm happy to have math as an actual class also (if it takes up my time, that's ok! It's a class; it's supposed to).

I also don't know if I've said this, but I'm working in the math clinic at UTA now. People from college algebra through differential equations come in and ask questions. That's where I come in. I know those subjects quite well, so I help them. I also know other subjects, but I don't get to help people on those as often.

Nathalie got an apartment and finally moved into it last semester. She and her parents bought the apartment in December and over last spring break, the began to change the entire place. It looks nothing like it used to, and it's a whole lot better. Perhaps I'll be able to get some pictures of the place online, though I think the only pictures we have may be of Christmas. Also, this Christmas break (Winter break for those of you who don't believe in Santa Clause/Jesus), she bought a cat, which she aptly named Ion (get it? cat...ion? cation?), and it's the cutest[-wutest] little[-wittle] kitty[-witty] in the world. I'm over here the majority of the time, so I think the cat has taken to me quite well.

Brooklyn is still three years old, and thus three is her favorite number (not bad, though...it is prime), but she'll be turning four at the end of March. She impresses me every day with how smart she is! I (and I know this isn't really impressive for a three-year-old, but it still catches me off guard sometimes) can even hold actual, logical conversations with her! The rest of my family is still cool, too. My parents just bought awesome new furniture for their bedroom that makes you feel like a tiny child when you walk into the room. Stephanie [my older sister] is finishing up a minor in Latin and ready to begin med school at any moment. Candace [my younger sister] is nearly completed with her courses at Ogle (cosmetology school - takes like eight months) and is about to take the final test in order to become registered. I really feel like I'm becoming closer to my family, even though I don't see them as often, than I remember being for a good number of years, and I love it.

Lastly, hockey is back! Yay! I've tried to catch every single game, and I've done a pretty good job of it. The Stars are either first or second in the Western Conference right now, and many of them will be playing in the Olympics (yay...Turco for Canada!). The NHL has new rules, too, most notably ending tied games with a deterministic shootout (which is much, much more awesome than I expected) and no more red line in determining two-line passes (which has made Turco even awesome-er).

Oh, and also early this month, before school started, AJ and I (and other people interested in math) went to San Antonio for the national joint meeting of the Mathematical Association of America (MAA) and the American Mathematical Society (AMS). It was basically a collection of a whole lotta mathematicians who were all giving talks about what their current research was. The vast majority of it was way over my head, but I still really enjoyed it. There was even a book show with lots and lots of math books. I plan on going to the Texas meeting of the MAA sometime this semester.

Dinner's ready (pizza), so that's it for now.

Primavera

My schedule for Spring 2006:

Analysis II (alas, my only math course)
Spanish II
Introduction to Computer Science (For my second major in Comp. Sci.)
Data Structures and Algorithms
Advanced Object Oriented Programming with C++
Computer Organization and Assembly Language Programming

Life's good.