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trickshot
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Name: mike
Country: United States
State: Colorado
Metro: Fort Collins
Gender: Male
Interests: DJing, eating out, hanging out, housework (now that i have a place...), environmental science
Expertise: japanese, some stuff about computers, learning new stuff, soil, livestock waste
Occupation: Student
Industry: Education/Research
Message: message me
Member Since:
11/24/2002
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| only the good die younga professor and friend of mine had a heart attack and died last night while traveling for a conference. i think he was in his early 40s, and i just found out he had a son. tragic. he was a very talented engineer, very practical and knowledgeable, a good scientist, a good teacher, and a good man. i just had lunch with him a couple of weeks ago, which i guess will be the last time i saw him. i'll miss him very much.
it really brings home to me how fragile life is, how we never know when the ride is going to be over, and how little time we have on this planet.
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| travel and a tough decisioni spent the beginning of last week in palo alto, and the beginning of this week in berkeley. both were really excellent trips, and i learned a lot. the purpose of the trips was, of course, to visit places where i might do my Ph.D. starting in the fall.
in the end, it was a difficult and rather painful decision. i've never really had to tell anyone "no" before, at least not like this. getting into college was not the same, it didn't affect anyone personally that i declined an offer from one school and accepted an offer from another. after graduation, the one other interview process i had going just kind of stopped, and i accepted another job offer and headed for japan. after japan, i only applied to one school, and they accepted me. i found my current advisor, and didn't have to say "no" to anybody else.
a Ph.D. is different, though. it's not like i can apply to only one place (since programs are very competitive), and in my case i knew and liked all of the people i would be working with. knowing and liking everyone is what made things so difficult: in the end, i could only choose one school and one person. i picked the experienced person in the familiar place...i think it was the right decision, but it still sucks because i really would have liked to help the other person build her career (which is just beginning).
this is a bit of a bittersweet moment in my life, really. i have the chance of a lifetime in this Ph.D. program, which is very exciting, but in order to seize that chance i had to give up another equally attractive and rare opportunity. in the process, i had to disappoint a very cool person who had invested a lot of time and effort into me.
i suppose i should count myself lucky that i haven't really had to make a choice like this until now. i'm sure it won't be the last time, either. i'd like to think that the fact that i spend so much time thinking and agonizing about it means that i feel compassion...but then i get to thinking that maybe life would be simpler if i were a heartless bastard.
anyway, i'll be back at stanford in the fall. hooray!
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| the latest crazy ideaas soon as i get my thesis off (in two days...) i'm starting in on my post-thesis reading list. (oh yeah...i have a presentation and poster to make, too...details.)
the purpose?
research for a book. a book i want to write with the help of one of my former dormmates who happens to be a rather talented economist.
hopefully the book will be completed before i start in on my non-profit organization.  
i know, it's all a bit far-fetched...but a guy's gotta have dreams, right?
on another note, in march i should know the specifics of the next few years--i'll be visiting california to get the final word on Ph.D. programs. hooray!
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| a busy summer, a busy semester: looking backi realized i haven't updated this blog in months. i suppose i really haven't had the time to. i guess this will be my first post of 2008.
my report from the summer is still not done, though hopefully that will change in the next few days. we got good results, though, and people were generally pleased with my work, i think. that's always a good feeling. the last few days of summer were spent in santa barbara at jen's wedding, reuniting with her and friends from japan who came over for the ceremony. it was a busy time.
over the course of this semester i presented at two conferences, taught a section of an environment/agriculture class, took two classes (soil microbiology and statistics/data analysis) and two seminars, went to seattle to visit my sister-in-law, and attended another wedding in lindsborg, kansas. plus, i spent a few days working at the stanford synchrotron radiation laboratory in menlo park, CA...THAT was also excellent.
speaking of stanford, in the past month or so i've finished up my applications for Ph.D. programs. now i'm just waiting to hear back. i've got my fingers crossed, hopefully things will go well and i can return to the bay area. wish me luck.
now that i'm done with classes for my MS program, i've just got a bunch of writing and preparation to do in the next month or two. the early march thesis defense is already looming!
if anybody still reads this blog, feel free to take a moment and let me know how you're doing. things here are okay, i'm just feeling out of shape and icky, but otherwise just moving along!
on a slightly more serious note, sometimes lately i can't help but think about mortality. since last spring i'm constantly reminded of how much i love this life, and yet also how fragile and brief it is. i'm reminded that one day, my loved ones won't be here. one day, i won't be here...and nobody knows what happens after this life. we all have beliefs and theories, but nobody knows. that's a pretty scary feeling, if you think about it.
...then in the end, i usually bury these thoughts and remind myself that in any case, my business on this planet is that of living. living, and doing a bit of good (whatever good i can) while i'm here. it's always good to keep that in mind, right? and comforting, in a way. in any case, hope you all are doing well!
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| anniversaries...yup, one year ago today.
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