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gruszka
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Name: Elliot
Country: United States
State: Indiana
Metro: Muncie
Birthday: 9/27/1982
Gender: Male
Interests: "Seinfeld", Jesus, J. D. Salinger stories, F. Scott Fitzgerald novels, Wes Anderson movies, movies, books, the Beatles, the Stones, the Velvet Underground, Radiohead, Libertines, Franz Ferdinand, etc.
Expertise: CPR, male catheterization, hand holding.
Occupation: Research and development
Industry: Research
Message: message meEmail: email me
AIM:  ElliotGruszka
Member Since:
8/17/2003
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| Sweater WeatherI always look forward to that first day in the fall - technically it's
still late summer, but I count September 1 as the first day of fall -
when you can wear a sweater. Not that there aren't those occasional
summer evenings where a sweater is appropriate, but there's something
delightfully special about that first full day where you know the
temperature outside isn't going to breach 70, and you can comfortably
pull a sweater on over your shirt.
I love sweaters for some
reason, almost as much as I love the fall. I think my love affair with
Autumn began when I was in grade school. I was one of those kids (re:
nerds) who couldn't wait for school to start again. There are always so
many possibilities in the new school year - new friends, new classes,
new clothes (when you're little) - that I always felt that it was more
of a time of renewal than Spring.
So, amid these stressful times, I am wearing a sweater for the first time this fall. It feels great. | | |
| Stole this from Jeremy:
10 YEARS AGO I WAS:
- 13 -- dreading moving from Traverse City to Muskegon
- Eating what I thought would be my last batch of Halloween candy
- reading comic books religiously
- hoping to get the Internet someday
- starting Junior High
5 YEARS AGO I WAS:
- 18 - freshman year at Taylor
- enjoying life on First East
- trying to fit in
- learning all the different sports you can play with a frisbee
- making friends
1 YEAR AGO I WAS:
- 22 - just out of college
- trying like Hell to get out of NYC
- in the worst living situation ever
- studying for the GRE
- never doing homework
YESTERDAY I:
- left the house when it was still dark
- got home after sunset
- watched four people walk out of my lab because they couldn't figure it out
- threw up
- fell asleep before 9 PM
5 SNACKS I ENJOY:
- cookies
- ice cream
- crackers and cheese
- frankfurters
- melons
5 SONGS I KNOW ALL THE WORDS TO:
- Beatles - Hey Jude
- Rolling Stones - Ruby Tuesday
- Ben Folds Five - Philosophy
- Barenaked Ladies - One Week
- Talking Heads - Psycho Killer
5 THINGS I WOULD DO WITH 100 MILLION DOLLARS:
- pay off my church's debt
- hire a chef
- tour the world
- buy a yacht
- buy new shoes
5 PLACES I WOULD RUN AWAY TO:
- childhood
- the Batcave
- a coal mine
- the circus
- the Bizarro World
5 THINGS I WOULD NEVER WEAR:
- brown shoes and a black belt - and vice versa
- jean shorts
- a tucked in t-shirt
- pleated khakis
- speedo (who are we kidding?)
5 FAVORITE TV SHOWS:
- Seinfeld
- Arrested Development
- House
- Family Guy
- 60 Minutes
5 BAD HABITS:
- None. I'm a catch - ask my mom.
5 BIGGEST JOYS:
- walking with God
- sleeping in
- having a purpose
- being around people
- world domination
5 FICTIONAL CHARACTERS I WOULD DATE:
- Lois Lane
- Jordan Baker (Great Gatsby)
- Franny Glass (J.D. Salinger)
- the chick from Pirates of the Carribean
- anyone from the Evil Dead Trilogy
5 PEOPLE I TAG TO DO THIS:
- Everyone and anyone
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| Google finally found me
If you search for "Elliot Gruszka" on Google, this is the first site
that comes up. Now that they've found m, I'll have to take all of
my sercrets and burn them.
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| I had a nice, calming visit to my alma mater, Taylor University yesterday and today. I had been planning on going up today for a few weeks on account of Richard Allen Farmer being this Fall's Spiritual Renewal Speaker. His sermon was, as usual, more than excellent. I decided last night however, to trek up early and visit with some old friends. I had a nice time overall, but realized that a majority of my TU friends are now graduates like me, and no longer students there. I love the people I visited with this weekend, but the relational ties to people actually at the institution are dwindling.
I had a long talk with my friend and mentor Dr. Ken Kiers this morning. He gave me a lot of valuable advice regarding "the Decision" that has plagued me lo these past few days. I'll say to you friends that I'm leaning toward staying put here at good ol' BSU and pursuing this Medical Physics Thing. I was very comforted by Dr. Kiers probing questions, which really helped to sort out my thoughts, and also overwhelmed with joy that I had the priviledge of going to Taylor and establishing such strong bonds with one of my professors. Thanks, Dr. Kiers, wherever you are.
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| Damn it!
I was just getting settled in. I had a plan. I knew what I was going to do. Two years at Ball State. Get a job as a medical physicist. Help people. Make money. Be happy. Think about a PhD when I'm thirty. Maybe skip that. Everything's cool.
Then, I find this in my inbox:
"Dear Elliot,
As the new Chair of our physics department here at Wayne State U., I
have carefully reviewed your application. I have also talked to Prof.
Paul Karchin. We are considering your application favorably in light of
your research interests in theoretical high energy physics. We have
great expertize in our department. I would like to know whether you
would be interested in joining our program in Winter 2006. Currently we
are making our decisions for Winter 2006. Please let me know ASAP.
with best wishes,
Ratna Naik
Chair and Professor of Physics"
Now, I'm out of my mind what to do. Do I go back to plan (a) - as an aside, I think this actually would be plan (a), hatched roughly four years ago on the spot, when a girl's parents asked me what I was planning on doing with my life. Plan (a) gave way later that year to plan (b) which was Medical School. Plan (b) had a good run that ended on December 17, 2003 with a phone call. That lead to a brief resurrection of plan (a) that evolved into plan (a-prime) which involved becoming a medical physicist. That fizzled, leaving us plan (a) - and go for a PhD, with the probably goal of teaching and researching, or stick with plan (a-prime) that has been working so well for me here at Ball State. When I was applying to grad schools last year, my thought was that if I got into one of the PhD programs, I'd study theoretical physics, otherwise I'd study Medical Physics at Ball State. Now, months later, here I am at Ball State, and an offer of a PhD at Wayne pops up. I think the biggest lure really is that magic title "Dr." in front of my name, which sort of leads me to believe its a pride issue. I don't know, I'm torn.
It's really easy to question God's kindness in situations like these, but he gave me a proverb only two days ago that makes me realize that no matter how confused I am, it's silly to believe that God is being mean.
"However good you think God is, He always turns out to be better." | | |
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