It's BPRD, or is it?

Wow. It's been a whole year since I last celebrated my made-up holiday which had, just prior, been made effectively made useless. There's not much point in remembering lost blog posts when they're autosaved. In fact, this post just autosaved when I paused after writing that last sentence.

I knew something would have to be down with this holiday, and last year, I said that I would "have quite a while to change things around or decide to do away with [the holiday] altogether."

Well, obviously I didn't think too hard about that, now did I?

So here I am, on another 23 May, and I have no blog posts to remember. No Blog Post Remembrance Day. Nothing to celebrate.

Or do I?

At 02:11 EDT today, Randomness logged its 8,000th hit from New Jersey. So I do have something to celebrate! Now, if that isn't the made-up holiday gods looking down on me, I don't know what is.

Now, if I could only get around to telling you all about what's actually going on in my life, other than the fact that I'll be going to Laurel's graduation party on Sunday. I mean, that's exciting. But you probably already know about that. She has her own blog, and besides, half of my readership will be there!

Until next time, have a great Memorial Day weekend, everyone!

Random tangent: I happen to be in a computer lab next to Emily. When I mentioned I didn't know what to write, she suggested, "Pancakes are good. Yum, yum, yum."

Bloggy Cake!

Egads! My blog, Randomness, is three years old! Yes, this very blog!

And, to celebrate, as has apparently become a bit of a tradition on this blog, I baked a delicious little bloggy cake. By which, of course, I mean I went to the computer lab, found some clip art, and then Photoshopped it a little.

The best part about bloggy cake is that it can be whatever flavor you like. It's digital, so it doesn't matter. Dig in!

It's hard to believe that for three whole years I've been here, sharing the nonsense that my life so often is. Personally, I'm proud that I've persevered for that long, as I've never been able to stay focused on a project for as long as this. I don't know what I envisioned when I wrote that first post in 2005, and I don't even know what I envision now for the future of this blog, but I really like what I'm doing here. It makes me happy.

Now, I acknowledge that I haven't written as much here as I would have liked to over the last few months. And that's understandable. Academics come first. However, I'd really like to get back into the habit of blogging more often. Even though this little exercise here is done for nothing but my own benefit, I have to remind myself that I do have an audience, and that they do care about my life, whether I write about it or not. In the past year, 2803 hits have proven that to me (down 11%, if you were wondering, like me; oh, well).

And so, to my blogging friends (many of whose blogs also turn 3 this summer), consider this a little nudge for you to continue blogging as well. Because I'm part of your audience, too, and I certainly care.

Here's to a wonderful fourth year of blogging...

Academic Update

Well, finals came and went, and contrary to popular rumor, I'm still alive. I know you're all disappointed. But not really.

Gosh, where has all this sarcasm come from lately?

Anywho, I went online on the evening of 30 April and found some nice little letters from my professors, some of which are adorned with mathematical symbols:

ChE 0200	Chemical Engineering Thermodynamics	6 cr.	A+
ChE 0201	Chemical Engineering Thermodynamics Lab	1 cr.	A-
ChE 1085	Departmental Seminar	0 cr.	S
CHEM 0310	Organic Chemistry 1	3 cr.	B+
ENGCMP 0400	Written Professional Communication	3 cr.	A-
ENGR 0020	Probability and Statistics for Engineers 1	3 cr.	A
MUSIC 0631	Concert Band	1 cr.	A

These grades represent a QPA of 3.819 on 18 credits, and that makes me very happy. According to official University policy, this gives me a cumulative average of 3.593 on 67 credits; however, the online system is still counting the old OChem 1 grade in its calculation and says my average is 3.482 on 70 credits. This is wrong, and I'm going to address it quickly to make sure that the right people are aware of this disparity, especially because (as of now) it would mean the difference between graduating Cum Laude and Magna Cum Laude. I mean, "magna" is an important word!

Of course, there is a slight downside to this news, and that is that my lovely 4.000 in ChE classes is no more. It's all because of that pesky little A- in the ChE 0201 lab. It was mostly group work, and I missed the A by six points, and although I'm sure those six points were within my grasp, I can't help but think that one of our more difficult group members also lost us those six points at some point. Nevertheless, I'm not here to make excuses, and besides, my QPA in my major is now 3.982 on 14 credits. Which is still pretty darn good, if I do say so myself.

Anyhow, many of you have probably already heard that I'm taking Organic Chemistry 2 as a six-week summer course. It's already started, and it's going well. So here's the obligatory information, which is quite streamlined since it's only one class:

Class Title and Credit Value
CHEM 0320	Organic Chemistry 2	3 cr.	(6Wk1)

Classes begin 12 May 2008 for the Six-Week 1 term, and end on 20 June 2008. No classes 26 May for Memorial Day.

My professor is Dr. George Bandik, who I had for OChem 1 (the first time) in the fall. One might think that's a bad thing, but he's a really good professor who genuinely cares about his students' progress, and my choices were either to take his six-week course, take someone else's four-week course, or possibly be a year behind in chemistry. So I think I made the right choice.

Fortunately, I'm understanding the material so far. I just have to spend a lot of time poring over it. I've heard from my friends that OChem 2 is easier, especially once one has the OChem 1 foundation. Although that's not enough to lull me into a false sense of security, it's still nice to know.

I won't bore you with any more details, though. Just know that this is what I'm doing for a while.

Random tangent: The maintenance crew was testing the fire and smoke alarms in my building today, and they got to my floor just as I was coming back from class. Let's just say that knowing there's a reason such alarms as so piercingly annoying doesn't make them any less piercingly annoying. It sort of acted to get people out of their rooms, though, which was nice. I talked to a few guys on my floor.

Term 2084 Finals

Okay, let's get this over with.

I know, it's been eons since I've blogged, and I have a ton to write about (not to mention the pictures to post!), but the fact of the matter is that it's a busy time of year here in Collegeland... namely, Finals Week. Here's what's on tap:


As you can clearly see, the reason this post is going to be so gosh-darn short is because I'm frantically trying to get together everything for my ENGCMP 0400 Portfolio, which is due at 12:00 EDT tomorrow.

After that, I have a few phone calls to make and errands to run before the fun studying starts Tuesday night, specifically for ChE 0200 (Thermodynamics). The week is rounded out with CHEM 0310 (Organic Chemistry) and it spills over into Saturday (ugh!) with ENGR 0020 (Statistics).

I don't know what to think about this, aside from the fact that such a back-ended schedule is less than desirable. Thermodynamics is generally regarded as the hardest of these courses by my peers, but I actually haven't been having too much trouble with the style of exams in that course. Statistics has been relatively straightforward... and to top it all off, it's a non-comprehensive exam. Again, the whole course has basically focused on applying principles that I've been using, in some form, since I was ten. Not that I was taught how to use them then... I was just that much of a nerd. See? It can pay off!

So, although I will of course be studying for both of those exams, I'm not very concerned about their outcome.

Organic Chemistry sticks out like a sore thumb. It's not quite the bane of my academic career, but admittedly, it feels like it sometimes. The curriculum is supposed to go through Chapter 13, so what do we do? After sloughing through Chapters 1-8, we covered Chapter 9 in two lectures, ahead of Exam 3 on 11 April. There were two questions on epoxide ring opening on that exam, material that was covered only in the last five minutes of the lecture immediately prior. I'm pretty sure I figured out what to do, but I genuinely feel bad for those who are taking this class the first time around. While that wasn't fair to anybody, it was much less fair to them.

Naturally, the topics of Chapters 10-13 were breezed by in the ensuing week, and we didn't get Exam 3 back in that time, so we don't know what we missed, and thus don't know what to focus more heavily on in studying for the Final. Normally, exam turnback has been within two lectures' time, with a period afterwards to challenge grading errors. This time, though, the idea is that our exams will be checked over so thoroughly that regrades will not be necessary. It's great in theory, but when the mantra all along has been "make sure the students know where they're not understanding things," even at the expense of keeping pace with the curriculum, it comes as a shock to have one-third of the material dumped on the students in the last week while they're kept in the dark about what they missed on the material before that.

I apologize for being so cynical, but on the academic front, my biggest peeve lately is probably how that class has been run.

Anywho, with a portfolio deadline closing in on 12 hours away, I've got lots more writing to do... just not here.

Random tangent: It is really, really hot in my room. Like 77° hot. I might trek to the lobby, or even Hillman Library tonight if this keeps up, because for me, warmth equals sleep, which I can't necessarily afford exactly now. (Don't worry; I'll get some sleep. Just not much.)

Basketball, etc.

It's amazing what fancy Photoshop-type stuff you can still do using just Microsoft Paint.

Pretty much by the time anybody reads this, I will be in the air on my way to Denver, CO for the first- and second-round games of the 2008 NCAA Men's Basketball Championship; we're heading to the airport at 14:00 EDT. By the time most of you read this, I'll already be there. And by the time a select few of you read this, I'll already be back in Pittsburgh.

We'll likely stay until Sunday 23 March, except in the unlikely case that Pitt loses their first game.

This is, barring something really weird happening, the only NCAA tournament trip I'll be making this year, as other obligations in Pittsburgh will prevent me from traveling to subsequent rounds.

The men earned a 4 seed and will start the tournament by playing (13) Oral Roberts in Denver, CO on Thursday 20 March at 13:00 MDT (15:00 EDT). The women earned a 6 seed and will play (11) Wyoming in Albuquerque, NM on Saturday 22 March at 14:30 MDT (16:30 EDT). I took my bracket template and made up printable brackets for both these tournaments, so go download them and follow along! They're made to fit 8.5"×14" paper, but will look just as nice (only smaller) if printed on 8.5"×11".

Unfortunately, my departure means I'm missing a lot of class this week. Fortunately, things have been worked out so that even if the Internet isn't free at our hotel (I don't know which one we're at), we will chip in to get it cheaper, and our director Jack may even help us out so that we can continue to send work into Pittsburgh... because it will be necessary.

I'll be keeping everyone posted on happenings in the tournament and my life at my Tournament News page throughout the week, so keep checking there as well for updates.

Things I must remember to do:

• Wednesday 19 March - ENGCMP readings; polish Proposal
  
• Thursday 20 March - ChE 0201 Report due; print remotely to Pittsburgh by 07:30 EDT (05:30 MDT, ugh)
  
• Friday 21 March - Online Housing Selection for 2008-09 at 14:45 EDT (12:45 MDT)
• Saturday 22 March - Work on ENGCMP Interview Portrait
  
• Sunday 23 March - Find a nearby Denver church; potentially attend a really early Easter service before leaving (assuming a Thursday win)
  
• Monday 24 March - OHMIGOSHLAUNDRY!!!!
  

Haha, yes. Seriously, though, that last one must happen, or I die. Figuratively, of course.

In the spirit of the season, I've started up the Pool of Randomness 2008, the successor to last year's Facebook pool that strangely didn't get mentioned on this blog. If you go to the pool, just login to Facebook or sign up and get started! Pick the winners of each of the 32 first-round matchups, then pick the winners of the second-round matchups you've created, and so on to a champion. Brackets are due Thursday 20 March at 11:00 EDT, which I have to remember is 09:00 MDT. Tonight's play-in game between Mt. St. Mary's and Coppin State is not included in the competition.

I'll have a safe trip to Denver, I'm sure! Everyone have a great Easter!

Random tangent: It's my first time flying today. "Excited anxiety" is about all I can call my feelings right now, and by the time I read any of your comments (which would otherwise be filled with advice), it'll be over. I'll be fine.