Grad school stuff

Hey, all.

So, I've been pretty quiet about grad school information with you guys.  This has two big reasons. 

1. I don't want to say things before I'm sure about them
2. I'm incredibly lazy and just haven't gotten around to it

I'll let you decide which was the major contributing factor.  So, here's the news.

I applied to six schools.  Washington University, University of Michigan, University of Texas Southwestern, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Princeton University, and University of Chicago.  Chicago misfiled my application somehow and by the time I heard from them (asking me for some information before they could process it) I had already set up 4 other interviews, and just didn't think I would have the time and stamina to go there.  So I told them to just throw out my application.  One down.

Princeton called me to offer an interview, but I don't really want to live in Princeton.  It's expensive, among other things.  Also, they didn't take nearly as much care of me as the other places did, and I want to be at a grad school that works hard to take care of students.  Two down.

I went to interview at the other four, and really liked them all.  I went into the interviews thinking WashU was the clear leader of the pack, but after interviewing at them all, it's much muddier.  I was kind of hoping that some of the schools would reject me so I wouldn't have as hard of a decision to make, but all four accepted me.  Not that I'm complaining. Being accepted at four top-notch schools is a pretty awesome turn of events.

Now I have to figure out where I'm going.  Which will entail making a huge spreadsheet to try to compare everything I can.  But the schools are all so well matched that it will probably come down to a coin flip.  Anybody have a 4 sided coin?

Purim Tovim!

Hey, everybody.

Two thoughts.  One is I got accepted to all my graduate schools (even the one I thought I had no chance at).  There'll be more on that later.

Right now I want to talk about Purim.  Today (well, tonight) begins what I think will become my favorite holiday, Purim.  This is the celebration of Ester from the Old Testament.  I'll catch you after the movie.



So, there's the basics.  I'm celebrating this holiday tonight with my Hebrew class, and I think it might become a tradition for me.  Not all the dressing up and whatnot (it's like Halloween in that way), but the rest of it.  Then again, since there is a way more interesting symbolic reason for dressing up on Purim, maybe that will be part of my tradition.  Who knows.

Point is, I love Ester and I think I will love Purim.  So happy Purim, everybody!

Airport food

Well, folks, there are way more important things going on now in my life than airport food blogging.  But those things require thought.  And probably more than the 29 minutes of battery life I have left. 

Yesterday evening I was supposed to fly back from my last grad school interview (Michigan- don't worry, at some point I'll give a debrief of all 4).  They were oversold, which is bad.  Since it was Valentine's day today, they were pretty desperate to get people to volunteer to get bumped till today.  And since it is my 25th consecutive dateless Valentine's day, I figured it would be OK.  (For any die-hard David Payne fans, this is not a continuity error-I did once have a girlfriend on Valentine's day, but she was on a different continent and we did not, therefore, go on a date, so I still count it.)

They put me up in a hotel, bought me a free ticket any time later, upgraded me to first class, and bought me meals.  And that's where I'm going with this rambling post.  At the Detroit airport I ate at a place called America's Coney Island (or maybe American...I don't remember).  And it was delicious.

I got the best milkshake I have had in years (maybe it's just that I was hungry, but I still think it was great), as well as a pretty descent Gyro, which is hard to find here on this side of the pond.  I think it was one of the best Gyros I've had that wasn't cut from a meat-cone.  I mean, those are totally in a different league, but this was pretty darn good.

So, if you find yourself in Detroit, get a gyro.  And a milk shake.  And the cute waitress' phone number (which, alas, I did not).

Grad school update!

So, for those of you who I haven't talked to, I should probably sum up my recent visit to Washington University.  Long story short, I didn't get in.

I interviewed with three people based on my research interests, and those three interviews went very well.  We talked about science and it was very interesting.  The other person I interviewed with was less helpful.  She was actually pretty unpleasant.

I don't want to go into a lot of detail here, but she seems to have formed her judgment of me before I walked in, and just looked for justification for her stance rather than trying to make a decision based on the visit itself.  Oh well.

The rest of the visit was pretty fun.  We went on a great tour or St. Louis, saw some very nice apartments that the grad students lived in, and ate some great food.  All in all, if I somehow get accepted and they can promise me that I will never have to interact with that hostile professor, I would seriously consider going there.

Merry Christmas to all!

Right now I'm at my parents' house in East Texas, enjoying the Christmas vacation from school.  It's been rainy and cold, but I guess that's Christmas in a place that's too warm to snow.  Moist and cold is as close to a white Christmas as I'm going to get, I think.

Well, that's enough holiday blogging for me.  Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!

What a world...

The sickness is deep.

Ringo!!

It's really one of life's great questions.  When we get tired of seeing Mary all over the place, whose image will show up in burned toast, doors, and other weird places?

Now we have the answer: Ringo Starr.  Yes, the lovable drummer has gone from cult victim to complete loser to deity.  You know, when I think about it, that doesn't sound too bad.