Science talks??

I didn't forget about blogging, time is just a hot commodity these days. 

I still have a few too many things on the go, but somehow manage to balance them all: 

• Thesis editing (The beast has been tamed - I think.)
• Mechanical testing (Still trying to get a hold of this animal (pun intended)- doing something for the first time EVER is incredibly frustrating, especially when you're eye-balling most of it.)
• CLS tours and side projects (They keep piling on, but I'm happy to take on the challenge - it's fun that I actually get paid for and they're a great crowd to work with.)
• Tutoring, mostly writing (Although commitment is minimal, here's where the majority of my frustration lies.  My idiot threshold is pretty low, and those who write poorly tend to push the limits.)
• Personal life....oh, wait...that one's come to a screeching halt.  I've come to realize that Friday night with 2 puppies and a good book are just fine for me right now.  I may be a shut-in, but I'm at the point where I deal with people enough during my day that I want to recharge my batteries with my own company.  (I have a feeling I might end up looking for ideas related to "extrovert turned introvert" or something like that because right now, I'm perfectly fine just entertaining myself.)

Over the last couple of weeks, I found a really neat little website with some really neat ideas.  It's TED related, and it's one of my many quick shots of "intelligent" when I have a *facepalm* "Why is the world SO STUPID day!?".  The other is this YouTube channel - I usually go to it when I have some jackass pushing religion or lack of religion on me and I need a little dose of "science philosophy".  This one's my favorite.   Here's another "Bill Nye Thought", but I think it makes a really good point. 

But back to TED Ed.  I found this little gem that still manages to blow my mind every time I watch it - I've watched it about 7 or 8 times...:S  I'm not sure why it doesn't quite compute, and I've had this conversation with my physicist friends.  I understand the concept of infinity and how to come up with and infinite group, but I think where I'm stuck is that the engineer in me sees little practical application of it.  I could sound hard-headed here, but the concepts in this little video seem more like mental masturbation than practical thought.  Whatever, I still keep watching it.....like a drug almost.  

Note: I purposely linked to pages instead of embedding videos.  Explore these pages, I can spend hours on them, just listening, and I think you could too. 

Totally abandonned this thing again...

A lot has happened in the last month. 

• Finished writing thesis - Check (4 weeks for 100 pages of marginal to ok goodness.  I don't recommend that kind of torture on any one, but it goes to prove: Yes,  you can write the large majority of a Master's Thesis in a little over a month.)
• Crashed after writing marginally good thesis - Check (40-degree fevers suck.  Being sick for 3 weeks also sucks. That is all.)
• Left meeting with my supervisor feeling like a Rockstar after writing a marginally good thesis - Check (It doesn't happen very often, so I'm gonna bask in it while I can.)
• Started mechanical testing and breaking bones - Check (Weekends are now a figment of my imagination.)
• TA job - Uncheck (I'm totally broke because of it, but not stressed out about idiot undergrads.  I'll consider it a WIN.)
• CLS job - Check (Being a returning student has it's perks; like being able to pick up extra hours training the new guides.  Seeing as I'm broke, I'll also consider it a WIN.)
• GSA Council Chair - Check (Student politics is still painful beyond the undergrad level.  Meetings don't get better, people still like the sound of their own voice, and stupid decisions are still made.  At least as Chair, I get to tell people to shut up when they're saying stupid things and wasting our time. Also it's a paid position....so that helps ease the pain.)

I do have a rant, but I'll save it for another post, mostly because it's not really related to "updates" in my life, but more of an expression of my really low "idiot threshold".  Sometimes really smart people can ask really stupid questions and expect even more stupid answers, simply because they have no concept of independent thought.....Funny, but this time there is no relation to student politics. 

Editing my marginal thesis is really slow-going.  I wish I could blame most of it on being sick, but I think the bulk of my de-motivation is simply because editing is a tedious job.  Not a fan, but at least the sucker is written and in the editing phase.  It's hard to edit something that doesn't exist.