5-minute blog! 5-minute blog! I am currently in the office (@Reddwerks). I have nothing to do in the next 5 minutes, so I decided to write a blog. A group of 8 people, including me, is about to go and have lunch at BJ's. It's my last day at Reddwerks, and though I feel sad for leaving the company, that's also what I pretty much have to do.
Bye!
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Thursday, February 5, 2009
Joy of Success
As I've tried to express myself with preciseness, I've come to distinguish a few basic positive feelings mostly identified by a general concept of "happy":
Part of my joy is caused because I am logged into www.pandora.com (Listen to Free Internet Radio, Find New Music) and am listening to a musical composition by Sean Tyas - Enchanted Music from his album "Trance Theory 2", and it's COOOOL!!!
But the Joy of Success I'm referring to has a more distal cause. This is the big news:
- Happy: A peaceful and lucid state of mind, not directly related to excitement, but rather to a universal sense of trust.
- Content: Satisfied, appeased, tranquil. Very similar to "happy", though I subjectively use "content" as a more ephimerous state of mind than "happy".
- Joyful: In my opinion, the one most distinct between these three. "Joyful", to me, means a sense of positive excitement, usually triggered by a favorable happening or an intake of certain popular drugs.
Part of my joy is caused because I am logged into www.pandora.com (Listen to Free Internet Radio, Find New Music) and am listening to a musical composition by Sean Tyas - Enchanted Music from his album "Trance Theory 2", and it's COOOOL!!!
But the Joy of Success I'm referring to has a more distal cause. This is the big news:
I'M ACCEPTED INTO THE CMU Computer Science Ph.D. PROGRAM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D
Really!! Really!! Yeah, I'm not kidding!!! :D :D At the end of August last year, I visited CMU in Pittsburgh, PA to assist to the Immigration Course given to new Ph.D. students each year. It was GREAT. There were some AWESOME research projects going on there, and the university itself - architecture, community, resources, contacts - was FANTASTIC. FABULOUS. Intel and Apple have CMU insider research programs, for example, there was scientific graffiti all over (like a statement declaring gravity as nothing but a bad frame of reference and a sinal wave scribbled all the way through a long wall of a building), and they have a SWIMMING POOL too!!! :D :D :D :P. (See http://picasaweb.google.com/antoniojl/HolyPittsburgh#)
Seriously, everywhere I looked, I could only see it was GREAT!! And the faculty members were also great!! It was all awesome!! So then I came back to Austin, TX and, with the guidance of a CMU professor friend and recommendation letters from two professors back in Guatemala (thank you very very much you tooo!!!!!), I submitted my application to CMU, and waited for results. That was last year.
And on Wednesday, 2009/01/28 (notice both the month # and the day # are perfect numbers :), I woke up in my apartment at about 5:00AM. I was at that time thinking about possible improvements on the RW system, so I decided to open up my Eclipse on the laptop and just work from bed. And I did.
Then at about 6:00AM I noticed my brother wasn't in the apartment, so I opened up GTalk to see if he was still working or something. But before I could find Marcos, I got news - I had been accepted to Carnegie Mellon!!!!! :O :O :O!!!!! And I went like :O :O :O :O :O REEEEAAAAALLYYYYYYYY???????????????????????? (in my mind, of course). I was IN!! It felt AWESOME!!! GREAT!!!! FABULOUS!!!!! STUPENDOUS!!!!! FANTASTIC!!! (In case anyone wonders, I don't use "incredible" I think most everything has the potential for credibility). I jumped up and down on my knees and elbows on my bed, joyful with success!!!!!!!!!
And that's why this blog is called that :). I still feel the Joy of Success when I remind myself of what this means for my life. A Ph.D. program!!!!! And not just any Ph.D program, but CMU's Computer Science Ph.D. program!!!!!!! :) I am VERY joyful.
I'm also joyful because I have succeeded in another area of my life which I have declared that I wouldn't talk about, so I won't go into any details. (Does referring to the prohibition of reference of something (call it X) violate that very prohibition? For this entry, I will assume it doesn't). Vague, huh? :P
Anyway, I also got into Yoga classes several weeks ago (if you ever read this Andrea, it wasn't dance classes...). I went to Jamba Juice to buy some tasty, delicious, nutritious carrot juice to drink, and I just happened to notice a Yoga center right next to it. "Dahn Yoga", it was called, and there were flyers placed outside. Yoga is only a few steps of away from carrot juice as far as healthy living goes (and, in this case, it actually IS only a few steps away), so I decided to get a Starter Package and just try it out, you know...
So I called the number on the flyer, and a woman with an asian accent answered. I told her I wanted to get the Starter Package, she agreed, and we decided to meet at the center on Sunday at 2:00PM. So on Sunday I went, and I filled up and signed a form, declaring that it was my knowledge that yoga practice was not a real medical program or something like that, and that I was doing everything under my own risk. You know - liability form or something. So then she (Angela is her name) took me to the reception desk, and told me to put my hands on some metal hand-shaped pieces connected to a computer. I did, and she took a "picture of my aura". She then said "wow, you have a lot of healing energy", and she showed me the picture on the computer screen - pretty much only a green-colored aura surrounding a black person silhouette. (I mean that the person silhouette was black, not that the silhouette represented a black person (language should have a more explicit way of grouping phrases)).
Then I went into the training room, covered completely by a yellow mat on the floor and some mirrors on one wall and a big yellow scroll with black asian-looking characters written on it hung on the opposite wall. She then directed me on a complete yoga class. She told me to hit my chest on one side with my fist, then the other side, then to shake my hands, to shake my shoulders, to stretch my shoulders, to hit my arms, to hit my legs, to hit my lower abdomen, to bend, to clap, to stretch my legs, and a lot of stuff like that. It was relaxing to stretch my muscles, and then at the end of the class, my whole body felt sooo relaxed - almost in a sleeping state.
So then she offered the possible yoga center plans to me - 3 months or 1 year. She recommended the 1-year plan, but I knew it was possible for me to not stay in Austin that long (I had not received news about CMU yet), so I took the 3-month package only. But my wallet hurt afterwards (metaphorically), when I thought that I had purchased a 3-month package when I wasn't really sure if I would be around to use the whole 3 months, so during the next class day, I asked her to replace my 3-month package with a 1-month package, to which she agreed. And then I felt more content.
And now, 3 weeks have passed since I began my yoga classes. And I can really say - it's made me very happy. I like the classes very much - I like the class itself, I like the effect on me, and I like the flexibility it's giving my body. My body feels grateful to the class, and through its gratitude, I perceive happiness. I was even slightly disappointed by the fact that I wouldn't be around in Austin to keep going to this yoga center because I'd be going to Pittsburgh (:D :D :D), but the CMU program takes quite a bit more precedence... The yoga center instructor looked disappointed too when I told her, but... yeah... that's how it's happening. I'm leaving Austin and going to Pittsburgh...
BUT... what some people MAY not know is what I'm doing BETWEEN Austin and Pittsburgh. This is what I think: I'm about to enter a several-year intensive research program at a top competitive CS institution, after the end of which I would possibly have my whole 20's decade behind me. This life path is not precisely my ideal, but it is very appealing. So I have decided: before I begin dedicating myself to this SUPER AWESOME research program, I'd like to do stuff that I've been wanting to do. Just those things that you've been having that nag to do for a long time, but just haven't done because you've always been doing "the usual stuff"? (going to school, working, spending time with your family, or making a family of your own (luckily I haven't done that last one, and won't, foreseeably, do it at all)).
This is a current sketch-list of things I want to do:
So the current plan is to stop working at my current job on March 31st, and between April 1st, and August 31st, as Natasha Bedingfield (good thing I googled, it I thought it was Natalia Imbruglia) says, "The rest is still unwritten". I've started on some sketches, but of course, "it isn't til is" :)
Concludingly, this blog entry was a semi-hurried attempt to update my blog with these recent rotundly significant events in my life. And so... I'm joyful. :) And happy. :) And I listened to Mago de Oz songs, and that made me even happier :). And joyful :). And etc...
Que viva la vida :).
Seriously, everywhere I looked, I could only see it was GREAT!! And the faculty members were also great!! It was all awesome!! So then I came back to Austin, TX and, with the guidance of a CMU professor friend and recommendation letters from two professors back in Guatemala (thank you very very much you tooo!!!!!), I submitted my application to CMU, and waited for results. That was last year.
And on Wednesday, 2009/01/28 (notice both the month # and the day # are perfect numbers :), I woke up in my apartment at about 5:00AM. I was at that time thinking about possible improvements on the RW system, so I decided to open up my Eclipse on the laptop and just work from bed. And I did.
Then at about 6:00AM I noticed my brother wasn't in the apartment, so I opened up GTalk to see if he was still working or something. But before I could find Marcos, I got news - I had been accepted to Carnegie Mellon!!!!! :O :O :O!!!!! And I went like :O :O :O :O :O REEEEAAAAALLYYYYYYYY???????????????????????? (in my mind, of course). I was IN!! It felt AWESOME!!! GREAT!!!! FABULOUS!!!!! STUPENDOUS!!!!! FANTASTIC!!! (In case anyone wonders, I don't use "incredible" I think most everything has the potential for credibility). I jumped up and down on my knees and elbows on my bed, joyful with success!!!!!!!!!
And that's why this blog is called that :). I still feel the Joy of Success when I remind myself of what this means for my life. A Ph.D. program!!!!! And not just any Ph.D program, but CMU's Computer Science Ph.D. program!!!!!!! :) I am VERY joyful.
I'm also joyful because I have succeeded in another area of my life which I have declared that I wouldn't talk about, so I won't go into any details. (Does referring to the prohibition of reference of something (call it X) violate that very prohibition? For this entry, I will assume it doesn't). Vague, huh? :P
Anyway, I also got into Yoga classes several weeks ago (if you ever read this Andrea, it wasn't dance classes...). I went to Jamba Juice to buy some tasty, delicious, nutritious carrot juice to drink, and I just happened to notice a Yoga center right next to it. "Dahn Yoga", it was called, and there were flyers placed outside. Yoga is only a few steps of away from carrot juice as far as healthy living goes (and, in this case, it actually IS only a few steps away), so I decided to get a Starter Package and just try it out, you know...
So I called the number on the flyer, and a woman with an asian accent answered. I told her I wanted to get the Starter Package, she agreed, and we decided to meet at the center on Sunday at 2:00PM. So on Sunday I went, and I filled up and signed a form, declaring that it was my knowledge that yoga practice was not a real medical program or something like that, and that I was doing everything under my own risk. You know - liability form or something. So then she (Angela is her name) took me to the reception desk, and told me to put my hands on some metal hand-shaped pieces connected to a computer. I did, and she took a "picture of my aura". She then said "wow, you have a lot of healing energy", and she showed me the picture on the computer screen - pretty much only a green-colored aura surrounding a black person silhouette. (I mean that the person silhouette was black, not that the silhouette represented a black person (language should have a more explicit way of grouping phrases)).
Then I went into the training room, covered completely by a yellow mat on the floor and some mirrors on one wall and a big yellow scroll with black asian-looking characters written on it hung on the opposite wall. She then directed me on a complete yoga class. She told me to hit my chest on one side with my fist, then the other side, then to shake my hands, to shake my shoulders, to stretch my shoulders, to hit my arms, to hit my legs, to hit my lower abdomen, to bend, to clap, to stretch my legs, and a lot of stuff like that. It was relaxing to stretch my muscles, and then at the end of the class, my whole body felt sooo relaxed - almost in a sleeping state.
So then she offered the possible yoga center plans to me - 3 months or 1 year. She recommended the 1-year plan, but I knew it was possible for me to not stay in Austin that long (I had not received news about CMU yet), so I took the 3-month package only. But my wallet hurt afterwards (metaphorically), when I thought that I had purchased a 3-month package when I wasn't really sure if I would be around to use the whole 3 months, so during the next class day, I asked her to replace my 3-month package with a 1-month package, to which she agreed. And then I felt more content.
And now, 3 weeks have passed since I began my yoga classes. And I can really say - it's made me very happy. I like the classes very much - I like the class itself, I like the effect on me, and I like the flexibility it's giving my body. My body feels grateful to the class, and through its gratitude, I perceive happiness. I was even slightly disappointed by the fact that I wouldn't be around in Austin to keep going to this yoga center because I'd be going to Pittsburgh (:D :D :D), but the CMU program takes quite a bit more precedence... The yoga center instructor looked disappointed too when I told her, but... yeah... that's how it's happening. I'm leaving Austin and going to Pittsburgh...
BUT... what some people MAY not know is what I'm doing BETWEEN Austin and Pittsburgh. This is what I think: I'm about to enter a several-year intensive research program at a top competitive CS institution, after the end of which I would possibly have my whole 20's decade behind me. This life path is not precisely my ideal, but it is very appealing. So I have decided: before I begin dedicating myself to this SUPER AWESOME research program, I'd like to do stuff that I've been wanting to do. Just those things that you've been having that nag to do for a long time, but just haven't done because you've always been doing "the usual stuff"? (going to school, working, spending time with your family, or making a family of your own (luckily I haven't done that last one, and won't, foreseeably, do it at all)).
This is a current sketch-list of things I want to do:
- Get ready for the Ph.D program, by reading and studying and reviewing my past education and knowledge. (I have already been given a list of several books to read and analyze, which I certainly will do, as soon as they are delivered to my apartment).
- Roadtrip through USA (Grand Canyon, Arizona/California/Nevada desert, Niagara Falls, New York City, and other cool USA destinations that Google( Maps)? may show me along the way. Alaska is high on my list but still determining how to get there).
- Backpacking trip through Europe!!!! :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D . I will land in Spain and walk, hitchhike, train-ride, and fly my way through Spain, maybe Portugal, Ibiza!, Italy, France (chance to visit my sister), Greece!, Prague (I know that's a city but not sure about its corresponding country), and maybe even Russia!! Meeting new peoples, new cultures, just... exploring, you know? :) :) :) It's... GREAT!!! I have wanted to do that for MANY YEARS!!! And now I can. :) :) This is another major contributor to my joy :).
- Visit my friend in China. :)
- Maybe visit Costa Rica and visit Khris.
- Go back and visit Guatemala to visit relatives and friends back there :).
So the current plan is to stop working at my current job on March 31st, and between April 1st, and August 31st, as Natasha Bedingfield (good thing I googled, it I thought it was Natalia Imbruglia) says, "The rest is still unwritten". I've started on some sketches, but of course, "it isn't til is" :)
Concludingly, this blog entry was a semi-hurried attempt to update my blog with these recent rotundly significant events in my life. And so... I'm joyful. :) And happy. :) And I listened to Mago de Oz songs, and that made me even happier :). And joyful :). And etc...
Que viva la vida :).
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