Well, it's about the time of the usual blog post. Starting at 12:30, and it'll probably finish at 3. =P
Wednesday, after I blogged, I headed off to my Logic, and my Contemporary American Poetry classes. My logic class is bomb. =D =D I am really excited about it (side note: Enrique transfered into that class on Thursday. Now, Enrique, Mario, Sara and I all have the Intro to Computing class and now the Logic class.)
The professor for the two CS classes is the same, which is really nice. My class right after that one is my Poetry class. It's really small, only about twelve people, and it's going to be very fun also. Our first activity in the class was to read a poem on our own, and pick a word that we thought best filled the blank. We proceeded to go around the table, and each tell our word.
She then asked us to explain why we chose the words we chose, and then had us tell her how the different lengths of our words changed the poem, regardless of the words meaning. She then told us what the actual word was.
On Thursday, I only had one class, and one discussion since one of my discussions was canceled. The class was my Research Methods in Mathematics class. It seems like it's going to be fun, challenging, but a really exciting class. I have that one with Enrique as well.
I had a long time between that class, and my next one, so I did a few errands (Including helping Enrique get his schedule changed. He was in an upper-level Physics class, and didn't even have the right prerequisites.) I then got to my Calculus discussion, which was definitely a first. It was with the Teacher's Assistant, and he is a really cool guy.
After that class I ran with Sara, Leslie, and Bethany to go eat at Which-Wich. I got me a Monte Cristo, which is my favorite wich. We then watched Freaks and geeks, whilst I got a dent in my Calculus homework. Bethany and I both left and I got home, checked my stuffs and crashed so I could be up for my 8 o'clock class.
Friday rolled around, and I got up and got me water, and a healthy strawberry snack bar to start the day off. I went to my Calculus class, and then proceeded to go to my Into to Programming class. After that, we headed to Jester to meet Leslie for lunch. Turns out she wasn't feeling good, so she didn't meet us there. Also, when we decided to go ahead and get food I realized I did not have my wallet.
I went to look for it, and couldn't find it, so I went to my Logic class and continued on since I couldn't do anything else. It was awesome! We talked about how English was imprecise, and how certain phrases could mean many different things. After class, I went and cancelled my debit card. I then called my brother to tell him about what had happened, and then called my dad. I told him to cancel the credit card. I then called my mom, made sure to tell the family.
Shortly after, my brother picked me up, and we went first by Arby's to get a snack before dinner. We then went to Jessica's mom's house, and played some games before we headed to Panda Express. Great food! Also, Charlie and I get the exact same thing, cause we're cool. We played some more games, and had cake before calling it a night (I spent the night at their place.)
Saturday started with doughnuts and a trip to get my car washed. I then got my car and returned to UT. Right after I got back, I got an e-mail telling me my wallet was at the front desk. I went and got it, finding that everything was still in it. When I got back I went to Sara's room, and finished my Calculus homework, and got started on my Poetry. I'm officially in love with the class. Around Dinner, Summer and I went to Kerby Lane. Afterwards, I returned to my room, and played some TF2 with Cody and my brother, which was a ton of fun.
After that, Chelsea called me on her drive to Denton from Fort Worth. That was fun! =D
Now, it is bed time, and it's only 1:48. =P
Sunday, August 29, 2010
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
The Not So Google Beginning
Ok, so I thought about changing the name of my blog to something that fit being in college, and not at Google. I decided, however, that I'm fond of this blog's title, and the meaning behind that so I'll keep it. My blog posts will still involve Google, however it'll probably be "The Not So Google" whatever.
Today was my first day of classes, which I've been excited about. I'm glad that I have something to be doing again. Can't ever learn enough! =D
This morning I woke up early for my 8 o'clock Differential and Integral Calculus class. That was a ton of fun! I even wore my Google beanie to class, which worked because it was early enough that it was coldish (as in not terribly hot) still. It was cool, and the professor seemed like a really awesome guy, and pretty funny too. I just have to make sure I steal one of the front seats before they fill up because he's not too loud, and the back of the room is retarded loud.
On my way to my next class I called my dad, and talked to him. My next class was my Intro to Computing class. I read the book before class, since I had an hour, and helped a professor move a table (for which Kasra has already called me a blue. Haha.). The class was basically an intro to the class. We didn't really learn much, but Enrique and I got to sit next to each other. =D
After that class we all started walking back to Jester City Limits to eat. Enrique, however, had to leave to check what time the CS 307 class was at, and meet his family somewhere. He may end up leaving the intro class, since he actually knows some Java. Sad face.
We got back to Jester, and Sara, Mario, and I ate with Sara's friend Leslie, and her friend from one of her classes that I can't remember his name. Leslie, was asking how to get to her next class, so I offered to walk her there, since my next class wasn't until 2. We got to her building, and she realized that it wasn't even the right building. She had said PHR, and the building was RLM. Luckily, for her, the other building was close, so I got her over there, with 3 minutes to spare.
After that, I returned to my room to rest. I even figured, since I had a few hours I'd update this thing. =D
Now I am off to go wait for my Logic class. Doesn't that sound fun?
Yes, yes it does.
I am so happy to be back in school! Nerd, yes, Computer Science is my major after all. Haha.
Hope everyone has a very awesome day! Love you guys!
Today was my first day of classes, which I've been excited about. I'm glad that I have something to be doing again. Can't ever learn enough! =D
This morning I woke up early for my 8 o'clock Differential and Integral Calculus class. That was a ton of fun! I even wore my Google beanie to class, which worked because it was early enough that it was coldish (as in not terribly hot) still. It was cool, and the professor seemed like a really awesome guy, and pretty funny too. I just have to make sure I steal one of the front seats before they fill up because he's not too loud, and the back of the room is retarded loud.
On my way to my next class I called my dad, and talked to him. My next class was my Intro to Computing class. I read the book before class, since I had an hour, and helped a professor move a table (for which Kasra has already called me a blue. Haha.). The class was basically an intro to the class. We didn't really learn much, but Enrique and I got to sit next to each other. =D
After that class we all started walking back to Jester City Limits to eat. Enrique, however, had to leave to check what time the CS 307 class was at, and meet his family somewhere. He may end up leaving the intro class, since he actually knows some Java. Sad face.
We got back to Jester, and Sara, Mario, and I ate with Sara's friend Leslie, and her friend from one of her classes that I can't remember his name. Leslie, was asking how to get to her next class, so I offered to walk her there, since my next class wasn't until 2. We got to her building, and she realized that it wasn't even the right building. She had said PHR, and the building was RLM. Luckily, for her, the other building was close, so I got her over there, with 3 minutes to spare.
After that, I returned to my room to rest. I even figured, since I had a few hours I'd update this thing. =D
Now I am off to go wait for my Logic class. Doesn't that sound fun?
Yes, yes it does.
I am so happy to be back in school! Nerd, yes, Computer Science is my major after all. Haha.
Hope everyone has a very awesome day! Love you guys!
Sunday, August 22, 2010
The Google Check In
Ok, so I didn't check into Google. The title is a bit misleading, I understand, but as long as I use this blog it has to be Google based, and since it's Google based it has to have Google in each post. Thursday was a lot like the previous Thursday in that it was the last day to do things.
It started of with taking my grandma out to eat. My dad, sister, grandma and I went to go eat at My Thai. After we ate, my sister and I went to AC to pick up my transcript to give to the people at UT, and then I went to Bahama Bucks with Cody, Meghan, and Cong. It was a blast, we joked about Stacy's Mom, and a bunch of other stuff.
From there Cody, Cong, and I returned to my house to hang out. Lindsey showed them the demon grandma's and a bunch of other stuff on Skate. Camron came over at some point to give me a memory card I left at his house, and ended up hanging out with us for a while.
Chris' house for a final Movie Night.
We watched Monsters Inc. and The Power Rangers movie. We even acted out a few scenes. =P
It started getting late, and Chris suggested we go to IHOP. We did. That was a blast! We finally got home at maybe 2ish? =D
Friday I saw Chris, and we ate at Oscar's/played LBP. He left, and I resumed my packing, and Camron came over to say bye, and help pack. He was over for a few hours, and it was nice to have company while packing. After he left, Erik came over. We didn't talk too much due to my being busy finishing up everything.
Saturday I drove. Almost 9 hours. I took a break for part of it.
We got to the parents' hotel and Charles, my brother, met us there. We hung out for a while before going to get me checked in. we got checked in smoothly, and it turns out I got moved into a new room, with a private bath. Confusion ensues.
We then went to eat at Chuey's. It was really good. When I got back I unpacked very little, and then called Summer and we went to go watch Zoolander. After that, when I returned to my room I did a ton of unpacking, and ironing, before crashing.
Sunday is still going, but good so far. =D
It started of with taking my grandma out to eat. My dad, sister, grandma and I went to go eat at My Thai. After we ate, my sister and I went to AC to pick up my transcript to give to the people at UT, and then I went to Bahama Bucks with Cody, Meghan, and Cong. It was a blast, we joked about Stacy's Mom, and a bunch of other stuff.
From there Cody, Cong, and I returned to my house to hang out. Lindsey showed them the demon grandma's and a bunch of other stuff on Skate. Camron came over at some point to give me a memory card I left at his house, and ended up hanging out with us for a while.
Chris' house for a final Movie Night.
We watched Monsters Inc. and The Power Rangers movie. We even acted out a few scenes. =P
It started getting late, and Chris suggested we go to IHOP. We did. That was a blast! We finally got home at maybe 2ish? =D
Friday I saw Chris, and we ate at Oscar's/played LBP. He left, and I resumed my packing, and Camron came over to say bye, and help pack. He was over for a few hours, and it was nice to have company while packing. After he left, Erik came over. We didn't talk too much due to my being busy finishing up everything.
Saturday I drove. Almost 9 hours. I took a break for part of it.
We got to the parents' hotel and Charles, my brother, met us there. We hung out for a while before going to get me checked in. we got checked in smoothly, and it turns out I got moved into a new room, with a private bath. Confusion ensues.
We then went to eat at Chuey's. It was really good. When I got back I unpacked very little, and then called Summer and we went to go watch Zoolander. After that, when I returned to my room I did a ton of unpacking, and ironing, before crashing.
Sunday is still going, but good so far. =D
Thursday, August 19, 2010
The Google Reality Check
My Tuesday and Wednesday kind of blended together.
I spent my Tuesday hanging out with my friend Cody. I went and got to see Cody's new house, and we came back to my house to hang out. I did my Alcohol Edu course and passed, of course. The questions it asked were ridiculous. Haha.
Cong came and picked up Cody to hang out while I went to the store with my mom and a family friend. She got me some nice sheets, and towels. We spent a lot of time looking around Bed Bath & Beyond, and when we got done we hurried home. =D
After eating, Cody and Cong came back over to hang out. We finally got Team Fortress 2 installed, and they walked me through a few practice rounds. That was the majority of my evening.
Wednesday was more exciting, because I was out running errands. I got my drivers license renewed finally, and got to visit with some teachers from high school. When I got home I watched some TV with my sister, and prepared for my first skype call.
When 4 rolled around Lynn called me, and after I accidentally hung up on her, then called back and finally got my video working she couldn't hear me. I spent a good amount of time trying to communicate what I was trying to say without words. She told me she was gonna play a song on her violin, and so it wasn't too important that she hear me.
She played A Whole New World from Aladdin, which made me REALLY happy. After a bit, I got my sound to work, and we got to where we could actually talk. We talked about all sorts of stuff, just talking about what life's been like since we got back. I noticed that even in our conversation we couldn't help but talk about the other CSSIers. About an hour later, we each went to go eat dinner.
After dinner I was given the task of cleaning, and packing sorta. I was at that the rest of the night. I think it's so hard, because until now it hasn't felt real to be going off to college, and now it's starting to set in. You got to hate realizing that the idea finally took root and is becoming a reality. =P After it got late I started watching Criminal Minds, finishing up the Second Season. It's a good show. =D
Till Next Time!
I spent my Tuesday hanging out with my friend Cody. I went and got to see Cody's new house, and we came back to my house to hang out. I did my Alcohol Edu course and passed, of course. The questions it asked were ridiculous. Haha.
Cong came and picked up Cody to hang out while I went to the store with my mom and a family friend. She got me some nice sheets, and towels. We spent a lot of time looking around Bed Bath & Beyond, and when we got done we hurried home. =D
After eating, Cody and Cong came back over to hang out. We finally got Team Fortress 2 installed, and they walked me through a few practice rounds. That was the majority of my evening.
Wednesday was more exciting, because I was out running errands. I got my drivers license renewed finally, and got to visit with some teachers from high school. When I got home I watched some TV with my sister, and prepared for my first skype call.
When 4 rolled around Lynn called me, and after I accidentally hung up on her, then called back and finally got my video working she couldn't hear me. I spent a good amount of time trying to communicate what I was trying to say without words. She told me she was gonna play a song on her violin, and so it wasn't too important that she hear me.
She played A Whole New World from Aladdin, which made me REALLY happy. After a bit, I got my sound to work, and we got to where we could actually talk. We talked about all sorts of stuff, just talking about what life's been like since we got back. I noticed that even in our conversation we couldn't help but talk about the other CSSIers. About an hour later, we each went to go eat dinner.
After dinner I was given the task of cleaning, and packing sorta. I was at that the rest of the night. I think it's so hard, because until now it hasn't felt real to be going off to college, and now it's starting to set in. You got to hate realizing that the idea finally took root and is becoming a reality. =P After it got late I started watching Criminal Minds, finishing up the Second Season. It's a good show. =D
Till Next Time!
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
The Google Gifts
Sunday was my last day to go to the church I've basically gone to my whole life (Not saying that I'll never be back, just the last time before I head out to college). I talked to my 1st grade teacher, some good family friends Christi and Mark, and then my 8th grade Algebra teacher. I'm going to miss talking to everyone at the church.
After that, I asked about having a pool party on Monday. My padre decided it would be better to do it Sunday, so I texted all the troops and set up the party to start at 6. Before the party started I helped my dad get the pool and hot tub situated chemically, and then went to get drinks and help Chelsea with her room some. I got some throwback Pepsis and Dr. Peppers! They are made with real sugar! =D
Upon my return to mi casa I finished up with the pool and hot tub, and ate with mi familia. People started showing up, and I got to hand out a few more gifts from Google. We swam for the first portion of the party, then some of us got in the hot tub while some of us sat around the table eating cookies/talking.
I introduced them to Sporcle, and watched as they became addicted to it. We then went to Malcom's and ate/hung out, before returning to my house. We played some bananagrams, and then I introduced them to Anagrable. I think it was late, because they entered that "It's late, and things that aren't funny are, and things that are funny are hilarious!"
def sunday_night(Chelsea, Blaine, Brison, William)
hour = int(time.strftime("%H",time.localtime()))
while hour < 23 and hour >= 22:
print "We talked about playing Bananagrams for a good while. Brian and Kelcey. Cody and Cong left once we started. We started off slowish, still teaching Chelsea and Brison the ropes. Stickley and Blaine both knew how to play which made it easier. It was fun, and I'm surprised they didn't quit at the beginning, because I won all the games. They kept getting frustrated with the continuous 'Peels' from me. Stickley left after he played a few games of Bananagrams with us, leaving me with the crazies. =D"
hour = int(time.strftime("%I",time.localtime())
while hour < 24 and hour >= 23:
print "We kept playing Bananagrams. Chelsea beat me in one of the games by a fraction of a second, and Blaine lost a game by a fraction of a second. If it wasn't so late, they might have been thinking a lot quicker. We started getting a bit crazier in our word usage, and Blaine even used a word from Oblivion. After our hundredth game of Bananagrams, I convinced them to let me teach them Anagrable. That went well. They were now moments from that loopy state, making jokes out of everything."
hour = int(time.strftime("%I",time.localtime())
while hour == 1:
print "They had officially lost it by this point. We finally finished the game, and it was decided that I won (which I say may only have been due to their impeded thought processes). They then proceeded to take the word we'd made in Anagrable and make up new words, which sent them reeling. Duhangy... Nuff said."
hour = int(time.strftime("%I",time.localtime())
print "Sunday Night... You had to be there."
Monday was a good day, although less happened. I was wished an M.M.M. by Stickley, and then in turn wished Brison a Merry Marvel Monday. I went and got my haircut, finally. Haha. It's not that my long hair bothers me, it's just that I LOVE being able to do it up in a faux hawk. =P
After that I went over to Chelsea's house, and ended up watching part of a Criminal Minds episode before I went home. I got home, and ate and then went out to go look at Bed Bath and Beyond to get ideas for when Mrs. Spears was going to take me out to get college stuff on Tuesday. When we finally got home I went over to Camron's house. I gave him his gift, and he loved it. There is no doubt in my mind that that was the best thing to do with the phone.
He then drove me to Pac-A-Sac, and got me a Vanilla Pepsi. When we got back to his house we played with his new phone, played Soul Caliber on the GameCube, and I taught him some Python basics. This kid picks up really quick, and got the basic guessing game pretty effortlessly.
There's my Sunday and Monday, which means I should be close to back on schedule.
Also, it's getting harder to put Google in the Title of each post. I may need to figure up something to do that doesn't involve starting a post Google blog. Hrmmm...
After that, I asked about having a pool party on Monday. My padre decided it would be better to do it Sunday, so I texted all the troops and set up the party to start at 6. Before the party started I helped my dad get the pool and hot tub situated chemically, and then went to get drinks and help Chelsea with her room some. I got some throwback Pepsis and Dr. Peppers! They are made with real sugar! =D
Upon my return to mi casa I finished up with the pool and hot tub, and ate with mi familia. People started showing up, and I got to hand out a few more gifts from Google. We swam for the first portion of the party, then some of us got in the hot tub while some of us sat around the table eating cookies/talking.
I introduced them to Sporcle, and watched as they became addicted to it. We then went to Malcom's and ate/hung out, before returning to my house. We played some bananagrams, and then I introduced them to Anagrable. I think it was late, because they entered that "It's late, and things that aren't funny are, and things that are funny are hilarious!"
def sunday_night(Chelsea, Blaine, Brison, William)
hour = int(time.strftime("%H",time.localtime()))
while hour < 23 and hour >= 22:
print "We talked about playing Bananagrams for a good while. Brian and Kelcey. Cody and Cong left once we started. We started off slowish, still teaching Chelsea and Brison the ropes. Stickley and Blaine both knew how to play which made it easier. It was fun, and I'm surprised they didn't quit at the beginning, because I won all the games. They kept getting frustrated with the continuous 'Peels' from me. Stickley left after he played a few games of Bananagrams with us, leaving me with the crazies. =D"
hour = int(time.strftime("%I",time.localtime())
while hour < 24 and hour >= 23:
print "We kept playing Bananagrams. Chelsea beat me in one of the games by a fraction of a second, and Blaine lost a game by a fraction of a second. If it wasn't so late, they might have been thinking a lot quicker. We started getting a bit crazier in our word usage, and Blaine even used a word from Oblivion. After our hundredth game of Bananagrams, I convinced them to let me teach them Anagrable. That went well. They were now moments from that loopy state, making jokes out of everything."
hour = int(time.strftime("%I",time.localtime())
while hour == 1:
print "They had officially lost it by this point. We finally finished the game, and it was decided that I won (which I say may only have been due to their impeded thought processes). They then proceeded to take the word we'd made in Anagrable and make up new words, which sent them reeling. Duhangy... Nuff said."
hour = int(time.strftime("%I",time.localtime())
print "Sunday Night... You had to be there."
Monday was a good day, although less happened. I was wished an M.M.M. by Stickley, and then in turn wished Brison a Merry Marvel Monday. I went and got my haircut, finally. Haha. It's not that my long hair bothers me, it's just that I LOVE being able to do it up in a faux hawk. =P
After that I went over to Chelsea's house, and ended up watching part of a Criminal Minds episode before I went home. I got home, and ate and then went out to go look at Bed Bath and Beyond to get ideas for when Mrs. Spears was going to take me out to get college stuff on Tuesday. When we finally got home I went over to Camron's house. I gave him his gift, and he loved it. There is no doubt in my mind that that was the best thing to do with the phone.
He then drove me to Pac-A-Sac, and got me a Vanilla Pepsi. When we got back to his house we played with his new phone, played Soul Caliber on the GameCube, and I taught him some Python basics. This kid picks up really quick, and got the basic guessing game pretty effortlessly.
There's my Sunday and Monday, which means I should be close to back on schedule.
Also, it's getting harder to put Google in the Title of each post. I may need to figure up something to do that doesn't involve starting a post Google blog. Hrmmm...
Monday, August 16, 2010
The Not So Google
Saturday was my first full day that I wasn't partially in California. Being home is bittersweet.
I woke up Saturday and got to go over to my grandma's place. We sat down and just talked about a lot of things. I finally told my parents about the scholarship from Google. They liked that. =D Other than that I told them a few stories about what we did, and the awesome people we did it with.
After we left my grandma's we picked up some McDonald's and headed home. I showed my family our app we made at Google, with all the bugs. After that I worked on getting my Skype set up, and talked to Lynn and a few other people from Google.
Emily Smirl asked me about going to Cadillac Ranch, so I texted a lot of people and invited them. We planned to meet at the park at 5, then be at Cadillac Ranch at 7. At first, only Cong showed up, so we just talked. At about 5:30, Emily and her friend showed up. We went to Walmart and Sonic, before heading back to Olsen to meet up with Blaine.
Cong didn't stay to go to Cadillac Ranch, opting to get some sleep (He's a smart man). We met Kelcey, and Brian at Cadillac Ranch, and later Stickley showed up. It was a lot of fun getting to just hang out with everyone. Blaine had to leave to go help Chelsea, and after a lot of spray painting we decided to go to Barnes & Noble to get Bananagrams (Shoutout to Lynn, Kasra, and Emily). I've gotten good at those elevator pitches (Shoutout to Damien). =P
We headed over, and actually spent a good amount of time looking through books before heading over to Emily's house to actually play said game. It was a lot of fun, and I also got to teach them Anagrabble. It was a lot of fun getting to spread the love of Bananagrams. After we played a few rounds we went to go bowling at Western Bowl. We played a game, which i didn't do too hot at, then went home for the night.
I blogged and talked on the wave. I miss the days of exciting lounge parties. =D
Love and miss all you people from Google!
Love all you guys from Amarillo!
I woke up Saturday and got to go over to my grandma's place. We sat down and just talked about a lot of things. I finally told my parents about the scholarship from Google. They liked that. =D Other than that I told them a few stories about what we did, and the awesome people we did it with.
After we left my grandma's we picked up some McDonald's and headed home. I showed my family our app we made at Google, with all the bugs. After that I worked on getting my Skype set up, and talked to Lynn and a few other people from Google.
Emily Smirl asked me about going to Cadillac Ranch, so I texted a lot of people and invited them. We planned to meet at the park at 5, then be at Cadillac Ranch at 7. At first, only Cong showed up, so we just talked. At about 5:30, Emily and her friend showed up. We went to Walmart and Sonic, before heading back to Olsen to meet up with Blaine.
Cong didn't stay to go to Cadillac Ranch, opting to get some sleep (He's a smart man). We met Kelcey, and Brian at Cadillac Ranch, and later Stickley showed up. It was a lot of fun getting to just hang out with everyone. Blaine had to leave to go help Chelsea, and after a lot of spray painting we decided to go to Barnes & Noble to get Bananagrams (Shoutout to Lynn, Kasra, and Emily). I've gotten good at those elevator pitches (Shoutout to Damien). =P
We headed over, and actually spent a good amount of time looking through books before heading over to Emily's house to actually play said game. It was a lot of fun, and I also got to teach them Anagrabble. It was a lot of fun getting to spread the love of Bananagrams. After we played a few rounds we went to go bowling at Western Bowl. We played a game, which i didn't do too hot at, then went home for the night.
I blogged and talked on the wave. I miss the days of exciting lounge parties. =D
Love and miss all you people from Google!
Love all you guys from Amarillo!
Sunday, August 15, 2010
The Google Control
Ok, so this isn't a legitimate blog update, in the sense that I'm not doing Saturday yet. I just wanted the following story to be immortalized. =D
Today after church I took a nap, because the jet lag finally caught up with me. In my sleep state I had a dream, and here's where the fun began.
I can't really recall the purpose of my dream, just that I was, in fact, controlling what I was doing. I kept changing certain things to alter the outcome of the dream. Sorry I can't recall the specifics, I just know it worked. I got really freaked out when I woke up. The first thing I did was talk to someone about my dream and how i was controlling it. The second thing i did was call Kasra to tell him all about it. I woke up again....
This time was real, I checked my totem. Haha. It was really cool though, and it probably didn't help that I went back to sleep again right after that. =P
Hope you enjoyed that!
The Google Farewell
If I never write this blog... If I never tell you about my Friday... Can that mean it never happened? If it never happened would that mean that we would be forced to relive it? I wish that I could say yes. I wish that if I never clicked publish post at the bottom of this I would still be in California, with all the awesome people I met there.
Ok, so it's not possible, and I'm really glad to be home with my family and all my friends, but the transition isn't an easy one.
Friday, after finally falling asleep at 5 ish, I woke up at 8:30 to a text from Kofi asking for his hangers. I instantly jumped out of bed, but not to get him his hangers. I jumped out of bed in a hurry because I remembered Jessica said to meet her at 8:45. In fact, a few minutes after waking up she texted me to tell me where she was and to spread the word.
Panic! I wasn't packed yet! Luckily, she didn't need us to be packed yet. Kofi, Kasra, and I headed up to the third floor lounge to meet Jessica. She had bagles for us, which was nice, and told us when our exit interviews were. My interview was at 11:30 (Ok, that's cool. I don't leave till 1.), and Lynn left at 11:30. =/
Her interview was one of the first so I sat in the lounge and waited for her to get done. When she got done she came down with me so I could finish packing. I got everything packed and then headed back upstairs with her to find Kasra and Emilly. We found them, and then they went to find Enrique. I stayed upstairs, talking with Tasha, and once she went into her interview I ran down to find Lynn and them since it was now nearing 11.
I found them in Enrique's room, after Michelle and I found Virginia. We watched a magic trick or two before all going upstairs to give Jessica the cards we wrote for her, Carolyn, and Kat. After we gave them to her, and had a big hug, we left to go get Lynn's luggage. The time was now 11:25ish... I had 5 minutes till my interview, and 5 minutes till Lynn left.
Everyone grabbed something of Lynn's to carry it out to the bus stop. I tried to stop and say goodbye to Lynn before we got too far, so I wouldn't miss my interview, but I couldn't bring myself to do it. We got outside the dorm, before I was able to stop her. She was already crying which destroyed me inside when i told her i had to go to my interview and was going to miss her leaving. We said our final goodbyes right there, and I didn't even make it back inside before the downpour of tears came.
I had managed to make it up to the lounge on the third floor without anyone noticing I was crying. Before going in, I tried to calm myself down so that if I had to go straight to my interview I wouldn't walk in with eyes red from crying. I walked in and Jessica said i still had some time. I sat on the arm of the couch, and Jessica assured me that everything was going to be fine, and then her and Tasha gave me a hug. It really helped me a lot.
I went into my interview determined not to cry, and somehow I managed to go through it all without breaking down. As soon as I got out of the room, however I could feel the tears coming back. It wasn't any help when I walked in and Jessica said "Ok, don't freak out Will, but Kofi and Enrique just left." My heart dropped. I had missed seeing Lynn off, and saying goodbye to Enrique and Kofi entirely.
Emily had texted me during my interview and told me to come down when I got done. I texted her before I got to Jessica. She responded right after Jessica told me that saying, "The bus stop run". I was out of that lounge before I could really tell Jessica what was going on. I rushed into the elevator, and would've straight up yelled at the elevator for being so slow if it wasn't for some lady I didn't know in the elevator with me.
After getting out of the elevator, I held the door open for her, and then ran as though my life depended on it to the bus stop. I saw the crowd in the distance, and ran even faster. Kofi stepped apart from the crowd and I ran into his arms to give him his goodbye hug (See: List of top 10 roommates in the world). I then went and gave Enrique his hug, consoled only by the fact that it wasn't even much of a see you later since he's also going to UT.
For the rest of the time, until I left it was nothing but an emotional roller coaster. I had to say goodbye too many times, and while saying goodbye to one of the groups they told us our van was there. It was not fun. I slowly made my way back to my room, savoring the time I had left to just walk the campus. I got my stuff and made my way to the van. After turning in my room key I said my final goodbyes to SJSU, and the remaining people. Lori almost wouldn't let me leave, and it killed me to see Izzy crying, but I had to get on the van to come home.
The van ride was rather silent, and once at the airport we got split up. Brittany, Nayeon, and Michelle were at a different terminal, so we said goodbye to them before making our way inside. We tried to talk the guy at the front into getting us next to each other, but he said we would have to talk to the people at our gate.
On our way in we saw Sam, and followed him back to his gate. We set our stuff down and went out in search of food. We decided on some pizza, and almost got Sam some corn soup, except it had turkey in it. We had to leave Sam when they announced that we had a gate change, but they did get Emily and I next to each other, as well as Samantha and Sarah.
I slept some on the plane, and talked to Emily when I wasn't. We landed alright, and I followed Emily to her gate, so she could watch my stuff whilst I went to the bathroom. When I returned I tried to call Kasra, but he didn't answer, so I started heading toward my terminal. Emily and I met up with Sarah, and Samantha. We all said our goodbyes to Emily, and then walked in the direction of the skylink. Sarah was the next to leave towards baggage claim and her family, and then Samantha and I split at the escalator.
Almost halfway through my skylink thing I couldn't remember where I put my boarding pass. I called Samantha, and had her check for it, and she informed me that I just needed to talk to the people at the gate. I luckily found my boarding pass in a random pocket in my laptop case that I've never used before. Haha.
I got home alright, and was really glad to see my sister, and parents. I felt really bad for Lynn, since she got stuck at the airport, but she was getting some rest at least, which was nice. My parents got me a cheeseburger, and some fries, before we headed home. I did a bit of talking about it, before everyone went to bed.
When I got to my room I found out that Kyle and Kasra were trying to rejuvinate wave, and so I jumped in. We waved for a while before I finally finished my blog and went to bed.
I still have to talk about Saturday, but hopefully Sunday and Saturday can go together... We'll see. =D
Ok, so it's not possible, and I'm really glad to be home with my family and all my friends, but the transition isn't an easy one.
Friday, after finally falling asleep at 5 ish, I woke up at 8:30 to a text from Kofi asking for his hangers. I instantly jumped out of bed, but not to get him his hangers. I jumped out of bed in a hurry because I remembered Jessica said to meet her at 8:45. In fact, a few minutes after waking up she texted me to tell me where she was and to spread the word.
Panic! I wasn't packed yet! Luckily, she didn't need us to be packed yet. Kofi, Kasra, and I headed up to the third floor lounge to meet Jessica. She had bagles for us, which was nice, and told us when our exit interviews were. My interview was at 11:30 (Ok, that's cool. I don't leave till 1.), and Lynn left at 11:30. =/
Her interview was one of the first so I sat in the lounge and waited for her to get done. When she got done she came down with me so I could finish packing. I got everything packed and then headed back upstairs with her to find Kasra and Emilly. We found them, and then they went to find Enrique. I stayed upstairs, talking with Tasha, and once she went into her interview I ran down to find Lynn and them since it was now nearing 11.
I found them in Enrique's room, after Michelle and I found Virginia. We watched a magic trick or two before all going upstairs to give Jessica the cards we wrote for her, Carolyn, and Kat. After we gave them to her, and had a big hug, we left to go get Lynn's luggage. The time was now 11:25ish... I had 5 minutes till my interview, and 5 minutes till Lynn left.
Everyone grabbed something of Lynn's to carry it out to the bus stop. I tried to stop and say goodbye to Lynn before we got too far, so I wouldn't miss my interview, but I couldn't bring myself to do it. We got outside the dorm, before I was able to stop her. She was already crying which destroyed me inside when i told her i had to go to my interview and was going to miss her leaving. We said our final goodbyes right there, and I didn't even make it back inside before the downpour of tears came.
I had managed to make it up to the lounge on the third floor without anyone noticing I was crying. Before going in, I tried to calm myself down so that if I had to go straight to my interview I wouldn't walk in with eyes red from crying. I walked in and Jessica said i still had some time. I sat on the arm of the couch, and Jessica assured me that everything was going to be fine, and then her and Tasha gave me a hug. It really helped me a lot.
I went into my interview determined not to cry, and somehow I managed to go through it all without breaking down. As soon as I got out of the room, however I could feel the tears coming back. It wasn't any help when I walked in and Jessica said "Ok, don't freak out Will, but Kofi and Enrique just left." My heart dropped. I had missed seeing Lynn off, and saying goodbye to Enrique and Kofi entirely.
Emily had texted me during my interview and told me to come down when I got done. I texted her before I got to Jessica. She responded right after Jessica told me that saying, "The bus stop run". I was out of that lounge before I could really tell Jessica what was going on. I rushed into the elevator, and would've straight up yelled at the elevator for being so slow if it wasn't for some lady I didn't know in the elevator with me.
After getting out of the elevator, I held the door open for her, and then ran as though my life depended on it to the bus stop. I saw the crowd in the distance, and ran even faster. Kofi stepped apart from the crowd and I ran into his arms to give him his goodbye hug (See: List of top 10 roommates in the world). I then went and gave Enrique his hug, consoled only by the fact that it wasn't even much of a see you later since he's also going to UT.
For the rest of the time, until I left it was nothing but an emotional roller coaster. I had to say goodbye too many times, and while saying goodbye to one of the groups they told us our van was there. It was not fun. I slowly made my way back to my room, savoring the time I had left to just walk the campus. I got my stuff and made my way to the van. After turning in my room key I said my final goodbyes to SJSU, and the remaining people. Lori almost wouldn't let me leave, and it killed me to see Izzy crying, but I had to get on the van to come home.
The van ride was rather silent, and once at the airport we got split up. Brittany, Nayeon, and Michelle were at a different terminal, so we said goodbye to them before making our way inside. We tried to talk the guy at the front into getting us next to each other, but he said we would have to talk to the people at our gate.
On our way in we saw Sam, and followed him back to his gate. We set our stuff down and went out in search of food. We decided on some pizza, and almost got Sam some corn soup, except it had turkey in it. We had to leave Sam when they announced that we had a gate change, but they did get Emily and I next to each other, as well as Samantha and Sarah.
I slept some on the plane, and talked to Emily when I wasn't. We landed alright, and I followed Emily to her gate, so she could watch my stuff whilst I went to the bathroom. When I returned I tried to call Kasra, but he didn't answer, so I started heading toward my terminal. Emily and I met up with Sarah, and Samantha. We all said our goodbyes to Emily, and then walked in the direction of the skylink. Sarah was the next to leave towards baggage claim and her family, and then Samantha and I split at the escalator.
Almost halfway through my skylink thing I couldn't remember where I put my boarding pass. I called Samantha, and had her check for it, and she informed me that I just needed to talk to the people at the gate. I luckily found my boarding pass in a random pocket in my laptop case that I've never used before. Haha.
I got home alright, and was really glad to see my sister, and parents. I felt really bad for Lynn, since she got stuck at the airport, but she was getting some rest at least, which was nice. My parents got me a cheeseburger, and some fries, before we headed home. I did a bit of talking about it, before everyone went to bed.
When I got to my room I found out that Kyle and Kasra were trying to rejuvinate wave, and so I jumped in. We waved for a while before I finally finished my blog and went to bed.
I still have to talk about Saturday, but hopefully Sunday and Saturday can go together... We'll see. =D
Saturday, August 14, 2010
The Google Finale
Ok, so I have to talk about all of Thursday, and then all of Friday. Who is ready for a short novel?
Thursday was a good day. A really good day. The best of days actually. We woke up like a regular day, except we knew we were going to be presenting our final projects. We got to Google, and ate our last breakfast at Alley, and then went to the classroom for final work on our projects.
We got a lot of it worked out, and then had a last lunch at The Lunchbox. It was amazing, and that may have been just because it was our last Google meal. =/ We tried out best to stay there in the grass, but in the end we had to go get our stuff, and head to where our presentations were going to be held. It was a pretty nice room.
We had an hour or so to get ready, so I did my best to pump people up by playing some really upbeat songs. =D Basshunter for the win! When it came time for our presentations Jessica randomly assigned us an order. I don't recall which group went first. I think we were 5th with matchzilla. Our presentation went really well. Even with our misakes I feel like we did it well enough for it to come across right. There were a lot of awesome ones. The Conversionator, CalCount, Google Trivia, Which CSSI-er are you most like, the Ice Cream shop, BlackChatJack, A recipe site, and a trading site.
Seeing what everyone did with it was really cool. After we presented my mentor had me go with him to the Google store, where he insisted on buying me a shirt (The YouTube Polo). I really like it.
From there we all walked to the Museum of Computer Science(?). It was really cool inside, and after getting seats Charles did a tour for us. =D When we got back upstairs we had a slideshow going, as well as food! There were Strawberries. =D When we got done eating we presented everyone with a certificate, that we'd been working on signing. We also all got Pictures and picture frames. Once we finished with that, we presented Charles with his autograph book, and then had cupcakes!
The cupcakes lead into us having a huge dance party. It was amazing! I love just getting to dance and be retarded! =D We spent a good amount of time dancing to Techno, and other good songs. After we danced for a long time Jessica called us all in to take huge group pictures. She then informed us of her Picassa album she's making so we can share pictures, and gave us all flashdrives. =D
Oh, also, we all got a 1,000 Scholarship from Google. I love them! We got back to the dorm, after many long goodbyes with Kat, Carolyn, and Charles. (Izzy convinced Charles to let him jump over him. =D) When we got back to the dorm we had a meeting in the lounge.
Everyone decided on 40 minutes to pack, and what not, before Ultimate and 7-Eleven. Ultimate was amazing, and I'm gonna miss it with them. We won both games, and I had some uber amazing catches! From there, we hung out in the lounge/the hall/my room. I almost put Kyle/Lori to sleep by playing with their hair, and then saved Kyle from Izzy and Kofi a few times. It was an amazing last night! We decided to go to bed when Izzy hallucinated, and thought he saw Sara Cain who had already gone to bed.
I still have to do Friday, but it's mainly sad stuff, so I'ma mix it with Saturday. =D
Adios!
Thursday was a good day. A really good day. The best of days actually. We woke up like a regular day, except we knew we were going to be presenting our final projects. We got to Google, and ate our last breakfast at Alley, and then went to the classroom for final work on our projects.
We got a lot of it worked out, and then had a last lunch at The Lunchbox. It was amazing, and that may have been just because it was our last Google meal. =/ We tried out best to stay there in the grass, but in the end we had to go get our stuff, and head to where our presentations were going to be held. It was a pretty nice room.
We had an hour or so to get ready, so I did my best to pump people up by playing some really upbeat songs. =D Basshunter for the win! When it came time for our presentations Jessica randomly assigned us an order. I don't recall which group went first. I think we were 5th with matchzilla. Our presentation went really well. Even with our misakes I feel like we did it well enough for it to come across right. There were a lot of awesome ones. The Conversionator, CalCount, Google Trivia, Which CSSI-er are you most like, the Ice Cream shop, BlackChatJack, A recipe site, and a trading site.
Seeing what everyone did with it was really cool. After we presented my mentor had me go with him to the Google store, where he insisted on buying me a shirt (The YouTube Polo). I really like it.
From there we all walked to the Museum of Computer Science(?). It was really cool inside, and after getting seats Charles did a tour for us. =D When we got back upstairs we had a slideshow going, as well as food! There were Strawberries. =D When we got done eating we presented everyone with a certificate, that we'd been working on signing. We also all got Pictures and picture frames. Once we finished with that, we presented Charles with his autograph book, and then had cupcakes!
The cupcakes lead into us having a huge dance party. It was amazing! I love just getting to dance and be retarded! =D We spent a good amount of time dancing to Techno, and other good songs. After we danced for a long time Jessica called us all in to take huge group pictures. She then informed us of her Picassa album she's making so we can share pictures, and gave us all flashdrives. =D
Oh, also, we all got a 1,000 Scholarship from Google. I love them! We got back to the dorm, after many long goodbyes with Kat, Carolyn, and Charles. (Izzy convinced Charles to let him jump over him. =D) When we got back to the dorm we had a meeting in the lounge.
Everyone decided on 40 minutes to pack, and what not, before Ultimate and 7-Eleven. Ultimate was amazing, and I'm gonna miss it with them. We won both games, and I had some uber amazing catches! From there, we hung out in the lounge/the hall/my room. I almost put Kyle/Lori to sleep by playing with their hair, and then saved Kyle from Izzy and Kofi a few times. It was an amazing last night! We decided to go to bed when Izzy hallucinated, and thought he saw Sara Cain who had already gone to bed.
I still have to do Friday, but it's mainly sad stuff, so I'ma mix it with Saturday. =D
Adios!
Friday, August 13, 2010
The Google Intermission
Today was the last day at Google. There is so much to say about that, but I can't tell you right now. You'll probably have to wait until I'm home for that. Sorry. We're in the middle of pulling an all nighter for our last night here. So, I'ma actually post a lot much later!
Love yas!
Thursday, August 12, 2010
The Pirate's Google
This morning was good, kind of went along the same route as usual. Upon arriving at Google, we went to eat breakfast at Alley. They didn't have strawberries, which saddened me, but the company is what makes the meal, right?
We went back to class, and continued our project work time. Charles was running behind, but it was all cool. We spent most the time, from 9 to 4:30 programming. Linda got a lot of the web stuff done, but everytime we uploaded the site to the web a bunch of errors would pop up that weren't there in the local host. We got it pretty much finished though. =D
During lunch I went with Lynn, Emily, Enrique, Tasha, and Christian to the Google store. I didn't buy anything this time! Haha. We spent quite a lot of time in there, and on our way back we passed by Carolyn and some of the BOLDers. We talked with them for a little bit, and told them how Enrique was going to be break dancing on the Pirate Cruise.
When we got back to Crittenden, we all went over to the Lunchbox and ordered sandwiches. Mine took forever, and then we realized it had been out for a while, the name was just upside down. While we were back in the classroom, Jessica said that I was sucking up to them by being nice. I want it on the record that everything I say in here is genuine.
At 4:30 we left Google and headed over to San Francisco, with all our pirate gear. When we got there we had to wait a bit before getting on the boat, but it worked out because we got a lot of pictures. It was the San Francisco Belle, and it was beautiful. Once inside, however, it was even better looking. We went up to the second floor and grabbed ourselves a table, before going out to the dance floor.
Carolyn came over to us, and encouraged Enrique to break dance. He did, and sure enough, within moments there was a circle around him. It was pretty sweet. There was a bit more dancing, before we got our food. It felt like we ate really quick, but after we got done we went outside. It wasn't too cold, but it wasn't warm. It felt awesome passing by Alcatraz and envisioning X3.
We explored the boat, before settling back on the second floor. I then went with Michelle, Tasha, and Virginia to explore outside some more. I missed seeing us go under The Golden Gate Bridge, but people got a ton of pictures. =D
It wasn't much longer after that that they ended the party and we came back to SJSU. I slept for most the trip back, but once back I had gained enough energy to do stuff. The stuff consisted of signing people's folders. I finished, signed everyone's I think, and didn't cry. Almost, doesn't count here. I'm really going to miss everyone terribly.
But for the happy note ending...
Lynn, being the genius that she is, suggested that we trade addresses so we can be pen pals. =D Which really sounds awesome!!
Adieu!
We went back to class, and continued our project work time. Charles was running behind, but it was all cool. We spent most the time, from 9 to 4:30 programming. Linda got a lot of the web stuff done, but everytime we uploaded the site to the web a bunch of errors would pop up that weren't there in the local host. We got it pretty much finished though. =D
During lunch I went with Lynn, Emily, Enrique, Tasha, and Christian to the Google store. I didn't buy anything this time! Haha. We spent quite a lot of time in there, and on our way back we passed by Carolyn and some of the BOLDers. We talked with them for a little bit, and told them how Enrique was going to be break dancing on the Pirate Cruise.
When we got back to Crittenden, we all went over to the Lunchbox and ordered sandwiches. Mine took forever, and then we realized it had been out for a while, the name was just upside down. While we were back in the classroom, Jessica said that I was sucking up to them by being nice. I want it on the record that everything I say in here is genuine.
At 4:30 we left Google and headed over to San Francisco, with all our pirate gear. When we got there we had to wait a bit before getting on the boat, but it worked out because we got a lot of pictures. It was the San Francisco Belle, and it was beautiful. Once inside, however, it was even better looking. We went up to the second floor and grabbed ourselves a table, before going out to the dance floor.
Carolyn came over to us, and encouraged Enrique to break dance. He did, and sure enough, within moments there was a circle around him. It was pretty sweet. There was a bit more dancing, before we got our food. It felt like we ate really quick, but after we got done we went outside. It wasn't too cold, but it wasn't warm. It felt awesome passing by Alcatraz and envisioning X3.
We explored the boat, before settling back on the second floor. I then went with Michelle, Tasha, and Virginia to explore outside some more. I missed seeing us go under The Golden Gate Bridge, but people got a ton of pictures. =D
It wasn't much longer after that that they ended the party and we came back to SJSU. I slept for most the trip back, but once back I had gained enough energy to do stuff. The stuff consisted of signing people's folders. I finished, signed everyone's I think, and didn't cry. Almost, doesn't count here. I'm really going to miss everyone terribly.
But for the happy note ending...
Lynn, being the genius that she is, suggested that we trade addresses so we can be pen pals. =D Which really sounds awesome!!
Adieu!
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
The Google & Juliet
Today was another good day. Haha. This morning I found out that one of my old contacts had somehow managed to hide inside my contact case because when I went to put my contacts on my left eye burned. I got it all fixed though, so no big deal. Haha.
I fell asleep on the bus again, this time listening to The Protomen. Upon arriving in our classroom, I was excited to see that I was sitting next to Kasra and Brittany. I set my stuff down and ran over to the cafe Alley. I got me some breakfast items (eggs, fruits, veggie sausage, you know the drill) and sat down at a table with... I don't happen to remember the exact people who were at the table, but they were awesome. While eating Sam and Brittany did a "rap" about Kofi, which was hilarious.
When we neared the end of breakfast Kat came over and sat down at our table. We got to talk some more, and I'm really glad over the past two days I've gotten to know her better, even if I wish it had happened sooner. She's really funny, and very easy to get along with. To anyone who doesn't know Kat, Carolyn or Jessica you are missing out on getting to know some of the coolest people to ever grace this planet. Carolyn is one of the nicest people you will ever meet, and just being in the same room as her can make you feel happier. Jessica is like the mother figure, but the really awesome mother that you're friends with. She's always making sure we're taken care of, and has probably put more time into the planning and execution of this week than I can imagine.
We didn't really have a class today, we just had group work all day. Linda, Brittany and I got a lot done during our endless hours of programming. I really do love this stuff. It's so frustrating writing code, and then having it not work because of little errors here and there, but once you get it to work it's really relieving. During one of the morning sessions, I opened up Pandora and it went all voodoo on me. It started playing The Protomen, which freaked me out, because I was still at the home page for Pandora, and had just plugged my headphones into the computer. What was even creepier was that I was listening to them on the bus, and it was the exact same song.
Later on I started playing with time in my program, and got the error message "... is not callable." I was confused by that so I looked over to Kasra, and asked him "Ok, I can fix this, but what does Cahlible mean?" Kasra looked at my screen for a second before looking at me with that "REALLY?" face and saying, "It says callable William." Those were the only really funny things from the morning.
For lunch I rode over to main campus with Christian so he could look at the Google Store. We spent the full hour looking in the store. He got a YouTube outfit, and I bailed Linda out. Dern blueness. When we got back to Crittenden I ran over to the LunchBox, and made myself a sandwich. Before I went over, I had popped into the classroom and Kasra told me how I missed build your own sandwich, and them making a sandwich for you. Jessica piped in, showing off how she's been reading my blog, telling Kasra how Monday I had gotten a turkey sandwich on sourdough bread, with cheddar cheese. =D
After lunch, Linda had a bunch of questions, and so she kept asking Charles for help with her program. Charles was baffled at how she could understand her program. Linda had taken and defined the functions h(), hh(), hhh(), h2(), and h3(). She has variables named xen and "apples" which make her whole program incapable of following unless you are her. When Linda said she fixed her mistake, Charles said, "I am impressed by your ability to track what's going on in that program. I myself am defeated by that program. I feel as though that program is hanging on by it's fingernails."
For Dinner I went to PIC with the usual gang and ate outside with some of the BOLDers. Johanna was with them, and we got to talk to her for a bit. She was wearing an awesome Star Wars shirt, and was telling us how boys shirts and swim trunks are awesome. Haha. There wasn't a lot more that happened until we got back to the dorms.
A lot of us decided we were going to play Ultimate Frisbee again. Emily didn't come out, so we yelled and got Mario to get her attention. She came to the window and opened it up. I was standing on a block of stone, and as soon as she opened her window I said, "But soft! What light through yonder window breaks? It is the East, and Juliet is the sun. Arise fair sun and kill the envious moon who is already sick and pale with grief that thou her maid art far more fair than she." (I haven't quoted that since 9th grade ish!)
We played 2 games of Ultimate Frisbee. Both times my team lost, but both times we were awesome. The second game was everyone versus Kofi, Izzy, and Emily. They beat us, even with the three of them to the seven of us. Haha. When we finished the second game Enrique, Lynn, Christian and I went for a run around the dorm. Lynn and I stopped after the second lap. When I got back I talked to Chels on AIM for a bit before taking a shower.
After the shower, I headed over to Emily's room for a blog party. Lynn was there, and then Christian, and Enrique came over as well. After a bit Michelle joined the fun as well. While here, Christian has popped 2 bags of popcorn, and I totally blanked on the other stuff I was going to put in here. I must say, however, that it is a cruel joke to have us all write about the other people here. It isn't easy having to try and put down all the feelings and emotions that you have for each other on a piece of paper. The people at this camp are way too awesome, and just thinking about having to leave them is horridly saddening. But, to keep me from crying, haha, I'm going to leave you on a happy note.
"I don't even like penguins that much, it's just that everyone keeps saying it" ^_^ - Michelle
Haha! Happy Reading I hope!
Till Next Time!
I fell asleep on the bus again, this time listening to The Protomen. Upon arriving in our classroom, I was excited to see that I was sitting next to Kasra and Brittany. I set my stuff down and ran over to the cafe Alley. I got me some breakfast items (eggs, fruits, veggie sausage, you know the drill) and sat down at a table with... I don't happen to remember the exact people who were at the table, but they were awesome. While eating Sam and Brittany did a "rap" about Kofi, which was hilarious.
When we neared the end of breakfast Kat came over and sat down at our table. We got to talk some more, and I'm really glad over the past two days I've gotten to know her better, even if I wish it had happened sooner. She's really funny, and very easy to get along with. To anyone who doesn't know Kat, Carolyn or Jessica you are missing out on getting to know some of the coolest people to ever grace this planet. Carolyn is one of the nicest people you will ever meet, and just being in the same room as her can make you feel happier. Jessica is like the mother figure, but the really awesome mother that you're friends with. She's always making sure we're taken care of, and has probably put more time into the planning and execution of this week than I can imagine.
We didn't really have a class today, we just had group work all day. Linda, Brittany and I got a lot done during our endless hours of programming. I really do love this stuff. It's so frustrating writing code, and then having it not work because of little errors here and there, but once you get it to work it's really relieving. During one of the morning sessions, I opened up Pandora and it went all voodoo on me. It started playing The Protomen, which freaked me out, because I was still at the home page for Pandora, and had just plugged my headphones into the computer. What was even creepier was that I was listening to them on the bus, and it was the exact same song.
Later on I started playing with time in my program, and got the error message "... is not callable." I was confused by that so I looked over to Kasra, and asked him "Ok, I can fix this, but what does Cahlible mean?" Kasra looked at my screen for a second before looking at me with that "REALLY?" face and saying, "It says callable William." Those were the only really funny things from the morning.
For lunch I rode over to main campus with Christian so he could look at the Google Store. We spent the full hour looking in the store. He got a YouTube outfit, and I bailed Linda out. Dern blueness. When we got back to Crittenden I ran over to the LunchBox, and made myself a sandwich. Before I went over, I had popped into the classroom and Kasra told me how I missed build your own sandwich, and them making a sandwich for you. Jessica piped in, showing off how she's been reading my blog, telling Kasra how Monday I had gotten a turkey sandwich on sourdough bread, with cheddar cheese. =D
After lunch, Linda had a bunch of questions, and so she kept asking Charles for help with her program. Charles was baffled at how she could understand her program. Linda had taken and defined the functions h(), hh(), hhh(), h2(), and h3(). She has variables named xen and "apples" which make her whole program incapable of following unless you are her. When Linda said she fixed her mistake, Charles said, "I am impressed by your ability to track what's going on in that program. I myself am defeated by that program. I feel as though that program is hanging on by it's fingernails."
For Dinner I went to PIC with the usual gang and ate outside with some of the BOLDers. Johanna was with them, and we got to talk to her for a bit. She was wearing an awesome Star Wars shirt, and was telling us how boys shirts and swim trunks are awesome. Haha. There wasn't a lot more that happened until we got back to the dorms.
A lot of us decided we were going to play Ultimate Frisbee again. Emily didn't come out, so we yelled and got Mario to get her attention. She came to the window and opened it up. I was standing on a block of stone, and as soon as she opened her window I said, "But soft! What light through yonder window breaks? It is the East, and Juliet is the sun. Arise fair sun and kill the envious moon who is already sick and pale with grief that thou her maid art far more fair than she." (I haven't quoted that since 9th grade ish!)
We played 2 games of Ultimate Frisbee. Both times my team lost, but both times we were awesome. The second game was everyone versus Kofi, Izzy, and Emily. They beat us, even with the three of them to the seven of us. Haha. When we finished the second game Enrique, Lynn, Christian and I went for a run around the dorm. Lynn and I stopped after the second lap. When I got back I talked to Chels on AIM for a bit before taking a shower.
After the shower, I headed over to Emily's room for a blog party. Lynn was there, and then Christian, and Enrique came over as well. After a bit Michelle joined the fun as well. While here, Christian has popped 2 bags of popcorn, and I totally blanked on the other stuff I was going to put in here. I must say, however, that it is a cruel joke to have us all write about the other people here. It isn't easy having to try and put down all the feelings and emotions that you have for each other on a piece of paper. The people at this camp are way too awesome, and just thinking about having to leave them is horridly saddening. But, to keep me from crying, haha, I'm going to leave you on a happy note.
"I don't even like penguins that much, it's just that everyone keeps saying it" ^_^ - Michelle
Haha! Happy Reading I hope!
Till Next Time!
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
The Marvel Google
Today went really smooth for a Monday. I think that with the creation of Marvel Monday Monday's have been more bearable, haha. Brison had some time with which he posted a character of the day, which he picked as The Human Torch. (Side Note: For those of you who don't know what Marvel Monday is, Marvel Monday is a tradition Brison, Stickley, and I started. At the most basic level, Marvel Monday is just the three of us wearing out X-Men shirt, but it is so much more than that. =D)
I got up this morning on my own, which was really nice. The bus ride went pretty smoothly, possibly because I think I fell asleep on the bus. Haha. Mayhaps my remembering to bring my Zune helped out. I awoke, and it felt a little weird being back at Crittenden. Luckily, I had a seat next to Lynn and Tasha, and was sitting behind Enrique.
I got up this morning on my own, which was really nice. The bus ride went pretty smoothly, possibly because I think I fell asleep on the bus. Haha. Mayhaps my remembering to bring my Zune helped out. I awoke, and it felt a little weird being back at Crittenden. Luckily, I had a seat next to Lynn and Tasha, and was sitting behind Enrique.
I'm taking a moment away from blogging to state that Emily is laying on the couch beside be saying, "BLOOOG!"
Our first class wasn't taught by Charles, but it was still mildly interesting. It would have been way more interesting had I not been on the verge of falling asleep. Haha. Kelly and Bartholomew taught us about a bunch of data structures, and which ones were best for which situation.
We had a break before Charles came back in to teach us. I was a lot more awake for his lesson. Probably due to his general awesomeness. He taught us a lot about mercurial, but I spent most the time working on a math game for our final project. Lunch was much appreciated when it came around. I didn't get much at the first cafe, but once we all finished and headed back to the class room I took a detour to The Lunchbox, a different cafe that has a build your own sandwich option. Sourdough bread, cheddar cheese, and turkey. =D
After lunch we got to listen to a presentation by the amazing Carolyn. She talked to us about success in college. I definitely feel a lot more excited and prepared for college than I was. It was real interesting getting to talk to other people and seeing how the general hopes for college, as well as the fears were the same for a lot of us. I also liked listening to all the advice that Carolyn gave us.
After that we had group work time, a discussion about Emotional Intelligence, and then more group work time. I'm going to lump the two together after I talk about Emotional Intelligence. Jenny came to talk to us about what Emotional Intelligence was and how it could be used to lessen stress and other such things. She had us do a bunch of cool activities for us to do, including this one that almost put me to sleep. She had us close our eyes and think about something stressful, and then she had us focus on breathing. Right away I started to relax and I think I fell asleep for a bit. It was very informative though.
In our group work times I grabbed a blue beanbag for the first one, and the yellow one for the second one. They were both really relaxing, and it felt a lot better than sitting in a chair. Linda worked on ironing out how the game would run on the web page, Brittany worked on figuring up the profiles for the different people, and I worked on figuring up a math game. During one of the breaks I went with Kat to go get drinks. We talked about the experience of CSSI. It was nice getting to know Kat a little bit better.
When we got back down to the room Jessica (Not the CSSIer) and I joked around. Shout out to her, especially since I told her I was going to mention her. I'll be nice however and not say her last name. =D After that I biked over to main campus to eat at Charlie's. I really like the burgers they make there. We got back, and rushed up to the front where the bus was supposed to get us yet. Kat was out there, and her bus pulled up before ours did so she said bye, and started to walk toward the bus. The driver must not have seen her because he started driving off before she could get there. Thankfully, the driver stopped and let Kat on. =D Our bus still wasn't there at 7:30, so I called Jessica. She kept trying to get a hold of Kat or figure up where the bus was for us, while we just played around outside Crittenden.
Our bus finally showed up and we got on it, calling Jessica to let her know that the bus showed up. I fell asleep listening to The Fray with Christian on the way back. We got back to the dorm and found that our lounge was inhabited by some people we didn't know, so we came to our room to hang out. After a while of hanging out, listening to Kyle complain about people on Facebook as well as my music choice, we decided to go to Jack In The Box, and 7-Eleven.
Lynn did some pretty epic parkouring as did Enrique and even myself for a bit. Now, we're all just hanging out in the living area of my suite, having a good time. Our plan is to go to sleep early tonight. Hopefully. =D
Monday, August 9, 2010
The Google N Out
Sunday was a rather laid back day. I woke up at 10, so we could go down to do laundry at 11. Lynn, Kasra, Christian, Emily, and I all started our laundry and then retreated to the lounge to just hang out like usual. It turns out we started our laundry just in time because close to everyone at the camp tried to start their laundry right after us. Whilst we were in the lounge waiting for our laundry we just hung out, and uploaded pictures or what not on our computer.
After our laundry finished up I talked Christian, Kyle, Valeria, and Mario into going to In N Out burger with me. On our way down we had one guy tell us we were about to get on the wrong bus, but it was really the right one. We had to get on an extra bus because there was a tree on the tracks, and then from there we found our next bus, but the driver was on a lunch break apparently. He finally decided it was time to get going, so we got on and headed toward our next stop. We saw In N Out before our stop, relieved that we got there correctly thanks to Google maps.
Once inside I ordered a Double Double, which is basically a double cheeseburger. It was really good, and I am definitely glad I got to have one. After we all got our food, and cleaned up the ketchup that kept trying to attack Valeria, we thoroughly enjoyed our food. When we all finished I had to go get a shake, just to try as much of it as I could. I was really good. On our way back we started walking in the right direction, but found out the walkway we needed to be on wasn't accessible from where we were, so we had to backtrack to get there.
We made it to the walkway, and eventually the bus stop. The bus took a good 15 minutes to show up. When it did, I was so happy to get on that I just jumped on and went back to the back of the bus. Christian was having a discussion with the driver, which confused me, but I later learned that the bus we hopped on was a bus you had to pay for. It was mildly annoying because neither of the 2 previous buses charged us to pay to ride. We did pay though.
We got back on the tram/train thing, and smoothly sailed back to our stop next to campus at 5. We got back to the dorm, and I went to my room to relax for a bit before we went down for the pizza that Carolyn was going to bring. Christian called me at around 5:40, telling me that she was on her way, so I headed down to wait for her at the front of the campus. She pulled up, and by that time Christian was rounding the corner with Kofi, Izzy, Brittany, and Sam. We got all the pizza and drinks in to the room, and sat down to talk and hang out.
We found that there was a piano in the room next to us, and Izzy was the first to really play the piano. After he played, a couple people had their go at it, and I played a pretty ok version of A Thousand Miles by Vanessa Carlton. After we finished hanging out and what not Kasra, Emily, Lynn, and I went to go see Step Up... 3D. My despising 3D movies continues with the fact that 3D effects are just fuzzy 2D movies unless you wear stupid glasses, in which case they are possibly mildly sharper 2D movies with glasses.
It was pretty cool watching all of the dances, however cheesy and overused the storyline was. On our way back we convinced Lynn to try some parkouring, and talked about re-enacting the dances from the movie. Once back to the dorm I called the mother figure, and talked to her and the sister for a while. When they went to bed I talked with Linda and Brittany about our project, and then went to the lounge for the dance party.
Upon my arrival they decided we were making a Safeway run, which turned into a Safeway-Walgreens-Jack in the Box run. We got food/drinks at Jack in the Box, and then walked back to the dorms. Lynn continued her practice of parkouring as we discussed making a parkouring video. Since we've been back in the lounge we've just listened to music, and played on computers. Lynn tried to learn how to spin on her head, and then we had a mini dance party consisting of only The Cha Cha Slide. It was fun stuffs! =D
Yea... It's not even 2 yet. Haha.
Peace!
After our laundry finished up I talked Christian, Kyle, Valeria, and Mario into going to In N Out burger with me. On our way down we had one guy tell us we were about to get on the wrong bus, but it was really the right one. We had to get on an extra bus because there was a tree on the tracks, and then from there we found our next bus, but the driver was on a lunch break apparently. He finally decided it was time to get going, so we got on and headed toward our next stop. We saw In N Out before our stop, relieved that we got there correctly thanks to Google maps.
Once inside I ordered a Double Double, which is basically a double cheeseburger. It was really good, and I am definitely glad I got to have one. After we all got our food, and cleaned up the ketchup that kept trying to attack Valeria, we thoroughly enjoyed our food. When we all finished I had to go get a shake, just to try as much of it as I could. I was really good. On our way back we started walking in the right direction, but found out the walkway we needed to be on wasn't accessible from where we were, so we had to backtrack to get there.
We made it to the walkway, and eventually the bus stop. The bus took a good 15 minutes to show up. When it did, I was so happy to get on that I just jumped on and went back to the back of the bus. Christian was having a discussion with the driver, which confused me, but I later learned that the bus we hopped on was a bus you had to pay for. It was mildly annoying because neither of the 2 previous buses charged us to pay to ride. We did pay though.
We got back on the tram/train thing, and smoothly sailed back to our stop next to campus at 5. We got back to the dorm, and I went to my room to relax for a bit before we went down for the pizza that Carolyn was going to bring. Christian called me at around 5:40, telling me that she was on her way, so I headed down to wait for her at the front of the campus. She pulled up, and by that time Christian was rounding the corner with Kofi, Izzy, Brittany, and Sam. We got all the pizza and drinks in to the room, and sat down to talk and hang out.
We found that there was a piano in the room next to us, and Izzy was the first to really play the piano. After he played, a couple people had their go at it, and I played a pretty ok version of A Thousand Miles by Vanessa Carlton. After we finished hanging out and what not Kasra, Emily, Lynn, and I went to go see Step Up... 3D. My despising 3D movies continues with the fact that 3D effects are just fuzzy 2D movies unless you wear stupid glasses, in which case they are possibly mildly sharper 2D movies with glasses.
It was pretty cool watching all of the dances, however cheesy and overused the storyline was. On our way back we convinced Lynn to try some parkouring, and talked about re-enacting the dances from the movie. Once back to the dorm I called the mother figure, and talked to her and the sister for a while. When they went to bed I talked with Linda and Brittany about our project, and then went to the lounge for the dance party.
Upon my arrival they decided we were making a Safeway run, which turned into a Safeway-Walgreens-Jack in the Box run. We got food/drinks at Jack in the Box, and then walked back to the dorms. Lynn continued her practice of parkouring as we discussed making a parkouring video. Since we've been back in the lounge we've just listened to music, and played on computers. Lynn tried to learn how to spin on her head, and then we had a mini dance party consisting of only The Cha Cha Slide. It was fun stuffs! =D
Yea... It's not even 2 yet. Haha.
Peace!
Sunday, August 8, 2010
The Google Matata
OH! So, we haven't had internet in our rooms recently, and so last night I couldn't add a very crucial detail to my Friday morning. On Friday morning I fell asleep on the way to Google, and Christian woke me up. The cool part was that he woke me up from a dream where we had just pulled up to Crittenden (our old campus). I was confused as to my being woken up to the near same situation. That's it for my addition to the old post.
My Saturday consisted of our CSSI trip down to San Francisco. I woke up at 10 in the morning, and got to the bus at 11. Without breakfast, I was starving before we left San Jose, but thankfully Emily and Lynn were smart enough to bring a bag of cereal. When we finally got to San Fran eight of us (Kasra, Lynn, Kofi, Izzy, Emily, Christian, Enrique and I) spent a little bit deciding where we were going to go.
We finally picked a direction and started walking. Kasra eventually decided on a diner, which we went to eat lunch at. It was a really nice diner, and I got French Toast (primarily because it had Strawberries) and it was amazing! We had a great time at lunch, and many an interesting conversation. Enrique spent a good while telling us how he was going to be homeless. He was going to live in a box, and then we discussed him sleeping in the center of a circle of Google bikes. At one point, they were talking about him ordering pizza, and telling the pizza delivery guy "It's the first box on the left." Enrique continued the conversation by saying, "I'm gonna talk to myself. I'm gonna talk to pidgeons."
Our lunch conversation then turned into a discussion about Batman's legitimacy. Kasra is convinced that he sucks because he's just a normal human who has money. So, I told him that with that same logic Iron Man would also have to suck. After saying he did, Kofi stated, "I don't see how someone who shoots rockets and lasers can suck." Kasra's response was, "Are they coming out of his eyes!?"
We finally left the diner with the goal of going to Coit Tower. We had to climb up a billion and two steps to get to where Coit Tower was. At the top we realized that it was a 5 dollar admission fee to the top of the tower. We paid, of course, and got to see the whole city. The view was beautiful. To get to the top of the tower, and back down, we had to ride in an elevator. The elevator looked just like the elevator from Cobb's dream in Inception, which was really cool. When we got back to the bottom of the tower Kasra continued his "Batman sucks quest." Enrique followed him up with "You know who sucks? You!" From the tower we figured out how to get to the Golden Gate bridge, and set off.
Before going to much further into the day I will take this moment to mention a recurring element of the day. In almost every bus we got on we sang Disney songs, trying to get everyone to join in in the process. In most of our buses we got a considerable amount of people to join in. We even got a little girl to sing Hakuna Matata with us.
Back to us heading to Golden Gate bridge. On the bus there we ended up singing "I Want it That Way" and this guy in front of us started laughing. Kasra jokingly called the guy out on making fun of us, and the guys said that he was just enjoying it. We finally got to Golden Gate Bridge, and it was amazing! We walked out to the first huge post, nicknamed "Wind Tunnel." On our way there we passed the same guy from the bus, and he smiled and waved at us. We took a ton of pictures, and almost died from the ridiculous wind speeds and freezing coldness of it.
We headed back to the bus stop, to make our way towards Pier 2, and stumbled upon a huge crowd at the bus stop. The previously mentioned guy, was in said group, and came over to make sure we knew where we were going. I know, I'm such a blue, but I really like when people are nice like that. In fact, he wasn't the only person who helped us out, we had quite a few people give us directions, and offer alternate paths for us to take which they considered to be faster. =D
The guy got on the first bus that came, and we waited for us. While waiting, we met up with 7 other CSSIers, all of whom had walked from our starting point to the Golden Gate Bridge. Our bus never came, so we hopped on another one that would still get us where we needed to go. Once on the bus everyone decided to pretend it was my birthday and sing Happy Birthday. I think I played it off pretty well, and some of the bus joined in. Due to the buses inability to follow their schedule we couldn't make it to In N Out before we left, so we just hurried back to the bus. We passed through Chinatown (Chinar) and decided we can now officially say, "remember that time in Chinar!" We got to the bus, 2 minutes early, at 8:58, but waited till 9:07 for Harvard's group. Haha.
Most of us slept on the way back, and Emily wants me to say how she fell asleep on my shoulder, and when I woke up from my nap I had a really big urge to stretch and yet I didn't because she was still asleep. We finally made it back to San Jose State, and a group of us went to McDonalds. It felt so good finally getting to eat dinner at like 11.
After dinner we (Lynn, Enrique, Kasra, Emily, Kofi, and Izzy) ended up in the lounge, and have been doing magic tricks, messing with computers, blogging, and looking through billions of pictures. A little while after getting back Linda, Lori, and Sara showed up. The three of them are even louder when it gets late. I think this is good enough, so I'm calling this post quits after one person description.
Israel (AKA Izzy):
Izzy is awesome, to say the least. He loves Anime, and likes Kingdom Hearts. In fact, he can play some of the music. Also, he is an amazing artist!
Ok, that's not a lot, but it's late. Haha. Laterz guys!
Ok, so it's 3:33 (I know it's late, be quiet) and we just finished a good 20 minutes of laughing. We started playing the Ha game, which was hilarious! When we got done Kasra was trying to figure up how to do something on the computer.
"Did you hg commit?"
"Commit your work Kasra."
"hg st"
"hg add"
"hg commit"
"-m 'insert comment here'"
"hg log"
"-l 3"
"I can't believe we could recall all that."
"Let me teach you this really cool shortcut in Mercurial. Nevermind."
"Let's open this new file, and start a new game."
"You know what, nevermind."
"Let's define get_name()"
"No, let's call it run_get_name()"
"No, let's just call it name()"
"And then after we finish the program, 'You know what, I don't like those function names.'"
"Yea, let's change the variable names too."
"Uh, Charles can you go back to that one screen?"
"Yea, I just made this change, and this one, and this one, and let's make this new function."
"Oh, let me help you. Oh, and you did this. You forgot this. Ok, now we're all caught up."
"Uh, no. I need help."
My Saturday consisted of our CSSI trip down to San Francisco. I woke up at 10 in the morning, and got to the bus at 11. Without breakfast, I was starving before we left San Jose, but thankfully Emily and Lynn were smart enough to bring a bag of cereal. When we finally got to San Fran eight of us (Kasra, Lynn, Kofi, Izzy, Emily, Christian, Enrique and I) spent a little bit deciding where we were going to go.
We finally picked a direction and started walking. Kasra eventually decided on a diner, which we went to eat lunch at. It was a really nice diner, and I got French Toast (primarily because it had Strawberries) and it was amazing! We had a great time at lunch, and many an interesting conversation. Enrique spent a good while telling us how he was going to be homeless. He was going to live in a box, and then we discussed him sleeping in the center of a circle of Google bikes. At one point, they were talking about him ordering pizza, and telling the pizza delivery guy "It's the first box on the left." Enrique continued the conversation by saying, "I'm gonna talk to myself. I'm gonna talk to pidgeons."
Our lunch conversation then turned into a discussion about Batman's legitimacy. Kasra is convinced that he sucks because he's just a normal human who has money. So, I told him that with that same logic Iron Man would also have to suck. After saying he did, Kofi stated, "I don't see how someone who shoots rockets and lasers can suck." Kasra's response was, "Are they coming out of his eyes!?"
We finally left the diner with the goal of going to Coit Tower. We had to climb up a billion and two steps to get to where Coit Tower was. At the top we realized that it was a 5 dollar admission fee to the top of the tower. We paid, of course, and got to see the whole city. The view was beautiful. To get to the top of the tower, and back down, we had to ride in an elevator. The elevator looked just like the elevator from Cobb's dream in Inception, which was really cool. When we got back to the bottom of the tower Kasra continued his "Batman sucks quest." Enrique followed him up with "You know who sucks? You!" From the tower we figured out how to get to the Golden Gate bridge, and set off.
Before going to much further into the day I will take this moment to mention a recurring element of the day. In almost every bus we got on we sang Disney songs, trying to get everyone to join in in the process. In most of our buses we got a considerable amount of people to join in. We even got a little girl to sing Hakuna Matata with us.
Back to us heading to Golden Gate bridge. On the bus there we ended up singing "I Want it That Way" and this guy in front of us started laughing. Kasra jokingly called the guy out on making fun of us, and the guys said that he was just enjoying it. We finally got to Golden Gate Bridge, and it was amazing! We walked out to the first huge post, nicknamed "Wind Tunnel." On our way there we passed the same guy from the bus, and he smiled and waved at us. We took a ton of pictures, and almost died from the ridiculous wind speeds and freezing coldness of it.
We headed back to the bus stop, to make our way towards Pier 2, and stumbled upon a huge crowd at the bus stop. The previously mentioned guy, was in said group, and came over to make sure we knew where we were going. I know, I'm such a blue, but I really like when people are nice like that. In fact, he wasn't the only person who helped us out, we had quite a few people give us directions, and offer alternate paths for us to take which they considered to be faster. =D
The guy got on the first bus that came, and we waited for us. While waiting, we met up with 7 other CSSIers, all of whom had walked from our starting point to the Golden Gate Bridge. Our bus never came, so we hopped on another one that would still get us where we needed to go. Once on the bus everyone decided to pretend it was my birthday and sing Happy Birthday. I think I played it off pretty well, and some of the bus joined in. Due to the buses inability to follow their schedule we couldn't make it to In N Out before we left, so we just hurried back to the bus. We passed through Chinatown (Chinar) and decided we can now officially say, "remember that time in Chinar!" We got to the bus, 2 minutes early, at 8:58, but waited till 9:07 for Harvard's group. Haha.
Most of us slept on the way back, and Emily wants me to say how she fell asleep on my shoulder, and when I woke up from my nap I had a really big urge to stretch and yet I didn't because she was still asleep. We finally made it back to San Jose State, and a group of us went to McDonalds. It felt so good finally getting to eat dinner at like 11.
After dinner we (Lynn, Enrique, Kasra, Emily, Kofi, and Izzy) ended up in the lounge, and have been doing magic tricks, messing with computers, blogging, and looking through billions of pictures. A little while after getting back Linda, Lori, and Sara showed up. The three of them are even louder when it gets late. I think this is good enough, so I'm calling this post quits after one person description.
Israel (AKA Izzy):
Izzy is awesome, to say the least. He loves Anime, and likes Kingdom Hearts. In fact, he can play some of the music. Also, he is an amazing artist!
Ok, that's not a lot, but it's late. Haha. Laterz guys!
Ok, so it's 3:33 (I know it's late, be quiet) and we just finished a good 20 minutes of laughing. We started playing the Ha game, which was hilarious! When we got done Kasra was trying to figure up how to do something on the computer.
"Did you hg commit?"
"Commit your work Kasra."
"hg st"
"hg add"
"hg commit"
"-m 'insert comment here'"
"hg log"
"-l 3"
"I can't believe we could recall all that."
"Let me teach you this really cool shortcut in Mercurial. Nevermind."
"Let's open this new file, and start a new game."
"You know what, nevermind."
"Let's define get_name()"
"No, let's call it run_get_name()"
"No, let's just call it name()"
"And then after we finish the program, 'You know what, I don't like those function names.'"
"Yea, let's change the variable names too."
"Uh, Charles can you go back to that one screen?"
"Yea, I just made this change, and this one, and this one, and let's make this new function."
"Oh, let me help you. Oh, and you did this. You forgot this. Ok, now we're all caught up."
"Uh, no. I need help."
Saturday, August 7, 2010
The Google Dream
Today was a fun day. I woke up on time today, even after staying up later than I should have. Haha. Following last night's activities this morning was mildly mediocre. We got up and drove to Google, our last day at 1950 on the Main Campus. Today I got to sit at a table with Lynn, Kyle, Ashley, and Lori. I accompanied Kasra, Emily, Lynn, Christian, Enrique, and Sam went to breakfast, however Lynn ended up sitting at a different.
Big Table let me down today. They didn't have strawberries. I had to eat breakfast without them, which really saddened me. When we got back to the classroom I ran over to Nourish to see if they had any strawberries. The moment I got there they took the bowl of strawberries, and replaced them with peaches. I did luckily find a parfait thingy that had strawberries in it. I took it back to the class, and proceeded to take out the strawberries, eating them and them alone. It wasn't the same because there were some nut variant, which stuck to the strawberries and gave them a strange after taste.
In class we continued to work on our web page in Python. I got mine working! Which makes me really uber happy! I didn't do anything much during my break, and after the break we spent more time working with Python. When we neared the end of the class Jessica got up to tell us who our groups would be. Before she revealed the groups, however, Charles talked to us about brainstorming, and other aspects of the project. She finally revealed our groups, and I ended up with Linda and Brittany. We then broke for lunch.
We went to Big Table again, instead of Charlie's because we only had a 30 minute lunch. There were actually seats at Big Table today, so we got to eat our lunch there instead of going to nourish. Also, they had chocolate covered strawberries! I love Google strawberries! After lunch we got to listen to LEADers give presentations on Wind Turbines, and Python. These kids are juniors and seniors in high school, and yet they didn't look it. It was cool to see what they had done with Python, and how it differed from what we did. After their presentations we talked to some of the staff at Berkley who hosted the LEAD thing. They were really cool, and we made them jealous of our CSSI adventure.
When we got back to our classroom there was another discussion panel, except this time they all worked for Google. They described their jobs and then answered a lot of questions about what it was like. I'm really jealous of a lot of them, because when they described their workload and work schedule it seemed like it was a lot of work, but it was at a lax pace. When they got done Jessica rounded us all up to head to the big droid, nexus one, fro-yo, eclair, cupcake, and doughnut for picture ops. When we got there we took a big group picture, and then the 6 of us from UT, including Joanna the BOLDer, took a UT picture in front of the droid.
After a few rounds of pictures I ended up carrying Lynn's camera around. I took a few pictures there, before we continued our trek to the movies. When we got to the theatre Jessica gave us our tickets, which we then redeemed at the ticket counter for tickets to Inception. We proceeded to take a few more group pictures, and I got to use Lynn's camera some more. We ended up going to Togo's, a sandwich joint, kinda like a Subways, but kinda better.
Then Inception! I love that movie. It was still great and suspenseful, even the second time around. However, I feel as though, in a way this trip has become my reality, and is making everything else seem like it's just a distant memory... I've grown to love everyone here, and when we have to leave I know it's going to be a bittersweet experience.
Back to happy though, we're all back at the dorm, and hanging out. I love this. =D
Now to people:
Linda/Lori:
So, the two of them are almost the same person, which is why I'm putting them together. They are probably the loudest people here, and quite possibly the funniest. "Remember that time in Chinarr?!" Linda is my partner for the final project, and I'm excited to see what we can come up with. I am glad I got to know them, because they've made this trip a lot more fun.
Kofi:
Kofi is my other roommate. He's just as awesome as everyone else I've named, in fact, if I forget to say that about someone just understand that I probably meant to put it there. He's responsible for my getting up when my alarm isn't working. Also, thanks to him I have woken up with Halo music playing. =D
Michelle:
Michelle is one of the nicest people I know. She is always smiling, and constantly has an uber positive attitude. She makes me day better constantly. =D
"I don't like being black! I like being yellow! ... Did you know these are happy foosball players?!" - Michelle Chen (She was referencing her preference of teams in Foosball.)
Big Table let me down today. They didn't have strawberries. I had to eat breakfast without them, which really saddened me. When we got back to the classroom I ran over to Nourish to see if they had any strawberries. The moment I got there they took the bowl of strawberries, and replaced them with peaches. I did luckily find a parfait thingy that had strawberries in it. I took it back to the class, and proceeded to take out the strawberries, eating them and them alone. It wasn't the same because there were some nut variant, which stuck to the strawberries and gave them a strange after taste.
In class we continued to work on our web page in Python. I got mine working! Which makes me really uber happy! I didn't do anything much during my break, and after the break we spent more time working with Python. When we neared the end of the class Jessica got up to tell us who our groups would be. Before she revealed the groups, however, Charles talked to us about brainstorming, and other aspects of the project. She finally revealed our groups, and I ended up with Linda and Brittany. We then broke for lunch.
We went to Big Table again, instead of Charlie's because we only had a 30 minute lunch. There were actually seats at Big Table today, so we got to eat our lunch there instead of going to nourish. Also, they had chocolate covered strawberries! I love Google strawberries! After lunch we got to listen to LEADers give presentations on Wind Turbines, and Python. These kids are juniors and seniors in high school, and yet they didn't look it. It was cool to see what they had done with Python, and how it differed from what we did. After their presentations we talked to some of the staff at Berkley who hosted the LEAD thing. They were really cool, and we made them jealous of our CSSI adventure.
When we got back to our classroom there was another discussion panel, except this time they all worked for Google. They described their jobs and then answered a lot of questions about what it was like. I'm really jealous of a lot of them, because when they described their workload and work schedule it seemed like it was a lot of work, but it was at a lax pace. When they got done Jessica rounded us all up to head to the big droid, nexus one, fro-yo, eclair, cupcake, and doughnut for picture ops. When we got there we took a big group picture, and then the 6 of us from UT, including Joanna the BOLDer, took a UT picture in front of the droid.
After a few rounds of pictures I ended up carrying Lynn's camera around. I took a few pictures there, before we continued our trek to the movies. When we got to the theatre Jessica gave us our tickets, which we then redeemed at the ticket counter for tickets to Inception. We proceeded to take a few more group pictures, and I got to use Lynn's camera some more. We ended up going to Togo's, a sandwich joint, kinda like a Subways, but kinda better.
Then Inception! I love that movie. It was still great and suspenseful, even the second time around. However, I feel as though, in a way this trip has become my reality, and is making everything else seem like it's just a distant memory... I've grown to love everyone here, and when we have to leave I know it's going to be a bittersweet experience.
Back to happy though, we're all back at the dorm, and hanging out. I love this. =D
Now to people:
Linda/Lori:
So, the two of them are almost the same person, which is why I'm putting them together. They are probably the loudest people here, and quite possibly the funniest. "Remember that time in Chinarr?!" Linda is my partner for the final project, and I'm excited to see what we can come up with. I am glad I got to know them, because they've made this trip a lot more fun.
Kofi:
Kofi is my other roommate. He's just as awesome as everyone else I've named, in fact, if I forget to say that about someone just understand that I probably meant to put it there. He's responsible for my getting up when my alarm isn't working. Also, thanks to him I have woken up with Halo music playing. =D
Michelle:
Michelle is one of the nicest people I know. She is always smiling, and constantly has an uber positive attitude. She makes me day better constantly. =D
"I don't like being black! I like being yellow! ... Did you know these are happy foosball players?!" - Michelle Chen (She was referencing her preference of teams in Foosball.)
Friday, August 6, 2010
The Ultimate Google
Well, it's nearing the end of week two, and I really don't want to think about it. I don't know if I conveyed it enough in the last two posts, but CSSI is the experience of a lifetime. These people (CSSIers, CSSI staff, Google employees, BOLDers, and guests from outside of Google) are all amazing.
The CSSIers are not what you would expect when you hear 29 people are going to a Computer Science Summer Institute at Google. Everyone here is a computer nerd, yes, but at the same time they all have other things going for them. Before the people section, I'ma jump to talk about the day.
So, my alarm on my phone has slowly been becoming less and less effective. Thursday I didn't wake up at all, until Kofi came in at 7:30. Our bus leaves at 7:45. Haha, so I'm going to take measures to counteract that. After getting on the bus, on time, and getting to Google we went to Big Table, one of the cafes at Google that is littered with Legos. We ate breakfast at Big Table with "The Dream Team" as they have been appropriately named. In fact, I think that I've been accepted into said "Dream Team." (Emily tells me that I have in fact been accepted. =D )
After breakfast we went to class. Our class consisted primarily of us making a program to update our Twitter. I can run a program, and never even have to go near Twitter. Which is awesome. During our first break of the day Lynn, Kasra, Emily, Enrique, and I went to the Google store. I bought some more stuff for other people, which only led to Emily stating once again that I was "Such a blue." During our next break we went over to the building next to us.
This building is ridiculous! It has a slide in it. The slide goes from the 4th floor down to the 3rd. It's really fun! We did more programming, and then we broke for Lunch. We, once again, went to Big Table for lunch. There weren't any seats in or around Big Table so Kasra, Emily and I ended up going over to Nourish to eat. Nourish is the awesome Zen/Healthy restaurant. I love it. It worked out for us, because A) Big Table only had mint covered fruits, and B) Nourish had strawberries. By the way, it's official. Whenever you think that you aren't going to get strawberries and then you do get them, they taste ten times better.
After lunch, we worked on uploading a program to the Google AppEngine that they have. We made a program that says "Hello, " and then your name, as well as quizzing you on your favorite singer. It was pretty fun, haha. During one of our breaks I went with Kofi, Izzy, and Kyle to see the Cupcake, Eclair, Android, Fro-Yo, and the other huge things. We had a speaker come in and talk about time management. He was really cool, and told me he liked my hat, which I had bought at the Google store.
We then had us some Dinner, which we got from Nourish. When we got back a group of us played Ultimate Frisbee. My team, led by Emily, won both times. After we won the second time, Enrique wanted to go to 7-Eleven, so we went with a group of nine of us to get drinks and snacks. I got me some Dragonfruit Vitamin Water, and Strawberry Cheescake Ice Cream. We then returned to the lounge at SJSU. A few of our group decided to play a round of Gatorade/Water Pong. Haha. I love these guys. The later it got the more tired people got, and the game got even funnier.
We then had a good round of Disney songs, where everyone listened, and sand along with, my Disney music. Now, there's another game that they are about to play, that I'm taking part in, so I'll finish the update after this, with the "About said game" as well as the "About said people."
Ok, so the game is called "Ha." Said game consists of everyone lying in a circle, and putting their head on the next person's stomach. Then you go around the circle saying "Ha" and adding one each time. It's real fun, and Kasra, Emily, Izzy, Lynn, Enrique, and I were busting up laughing. That's it for the night.
As for people, I'm only gonna shout out to a few.
Ashley:
Ashley was also on my flight to Dallas. We were far enough apart, however, that I didn't get to know her on the plane. Her and Beth are almost literally attached at the hips. She's pretty funny, and definitely knows a ton more programming than I do. =P
Enrique:
Enrique is one of the original members of "The Dream Team" and probably the most liked person at this camp. He's a really good magician, and can do all manner of card tricks. It's real fun to watch people try to understand how he's doing his tricks. He is also a great break dancer (So I've heard, because I didn't know about the dance off). Also, he is one of the five CSSIers that is attending UT including me.
Christian:
Christian is also from Texas, however he is attending A&M. Strangely enough, we have the same facial hair, including the little patch that doesn't grow hair. Haha. He's uber funny, and a really nice guy. He, like Enrique is an original member of "The Dream Team."
Lynn:
I honestly didn't know who Lynn was until one day Lori told me to taste the "Wheat Grass Shot." Even after that though, I still didn't really know her. It wasn't until, I think Sunday night that I really got to know her, and that was primarily due to Bananagrams. She's real cool, and an amazing photographer.
There's my second round of persons here. =D
I hope this isn't too much for you to handle.
Adios!
William
Ok, so the game is called "Ha." Said game consists of everyone lying in a circle, and putting their head on the next person's stomach. Then you go around the circle saying "Ha" and adding one each time. It's real fun, and Kasra, Emily, Izzy, Lynn, Enrique, and I were busting up laughing. That's it for the night.
As for people, I'm only gonna shout out to a few.
Ashley:
Ashley was also on my flight to Dallas. We were far enough apart, however, that I didn't get to know her on the plane. Her and Beth are almost literally attached at the hips. She's pretty funny, and definitely knows a ton more programming than I do. =P
Enrique:
Enrique is one of the original members of "The Dream Team" and probably the most liked person at this camp. He's a really good magician, and can do all manner of card tricks. It's real fun to watch people try to understand how he's doing his tricks. He is also a great break dancer (So I've heard, because I didn't know about the dance off). Also, he is one of the five CSSIers that is attending UT including me.
Christian:
Christian is also from Texas, however he is attending A&M. Strangely enough, we have the same facial hair, including the little patch that doesn't grow hair. Haha. He's uber funny, and a really nice guy. He, like Enrique is an original member of "The Dream Team."
Lynn:
I honestly didn't know who Lynn was until one day Lori told me to taste the "Wheat Grass Shot." Even after that though, I still didn't really know her. It wasn't until, I think Sunday night that I really got to know her, and that was primarily due to Bananagrams. She's real cool, and an amazing photographer.
There's my second round of persons here. =D
I hope this isn't too much for you to handle.
Adios!
William
Thursday, August 5, 2010
The Google People/Happenings
First up on my list are the people who are at CSSI with me, because that’s how I roll. (There is no ranking system, I'm just listing people as I met them.)
Beth:
I met Beth on the way down here, and that’s a story right there. When I got to DFW Ashley texted me (We had traded numbers on the Facebook page since we were on the same flight) and she mentioned something about a Beth. For the life of me I couldn’t remember anyone named Beth who was a part of the group. Turns out that her name is actually Sarah, but since there are 3 variations of Sara at CSSI she adopted her middle name to lessen the confusion. Well, to continue the story we got magically placed next to each other on the plane. Thanks to our sitting next to each other, we instantly started talking. Before long, we whipped out Where the Wild Things Are and watched it on my laptop. Magically, from that point on, Beth and I became friends. She’s really sarcastic, and actually a really funny person.
Emily:
So, Emily was also on my flight from Dallas to San Jose, except she ended up sitting at the back of the plane, so I didn’t really get to know her at first. However, she and Sarah Edris did in fact wave me down, because I didn’t want to initiate the conversation and have them not be the right people. I wouldn’t have been able to tell you at the time (mainly because I was still semi-nervous about meeting people), but Emily is really awesome. She really likes Scrabble, and so I’ve recently started playing against her in Scrabble via Facebook. Also, she is partially responsible for getting me addicted to Bananagrams. =D Check her blog out at:
Kasra:
Kasra is one of my roommates, and the first person beside Beth that I actually talked to. Right away I could tell that he was going to be an awesome suitemate. He’s a real funny and laid back guy. He is all sorts of crazy, but definitely a must for a friend. He’s a really nice guy as well, and every time I hang out with him I laugh a ton! There's so much more to say about Kasra, so I'll just let you find out for yourself. His blog is:
Brittany:
Aside from my roommate, Brittany was the first person who made an impression on me here at CSSI. She was at the table I sat at for the Pizza introduction. She led the talks, and with her outgoing personality she had us all talking and getting to know each other in no time. She continues to be the most outspoken person here, which only makes this whole trip more interesting.
There are a lot more people but, I feel like this is already information overload (ok, I did just think of Katy Perry's song...) and so I'll switch gears to some fun-going ons. However, I will mention Kofi (my other roommate), Ashley, Enrique, Kyle (Harvard), Christian (Aquaman), and Lynn (I will tell you more about them, and even make some more honorable mentions in later posts. =D)
I'm not sure exactly what all to shove into this right now. Most of the going ons are “had to be there” type things. So, just bear with me. On the first Monday we had an ice cream social where we got to meet our “mentors.” We then had a contest to see which group could build the biggest tower out of paper. My group pulled through, and won in the end. However, the first day we were here, when we had the pizza “get to know people” party, I was completely incapable of figuring out that I had Bart Simpson on my back. Just because I couldn't guess that doesn't mean I've never seen the show, but yea. That Tuesday we mingled with the entering 9th graders who were at some Google thing also. We had to come up with a kitchen product. Our group settled on a “Spatulair.” A spatula that shot air out of it to help with things that stuck to the pan, and to perfectly flip pancakes. That was all Scouch's idea. I promise.
Wednesday we got to hear from Jeremy about street view, as well as Tara about diversity. We got assigned a group project to make posters promoting diversity. I was in a group with Michelle and Valeria. We made an awesome poster, and had a lot of fun in the process. On Friday Damian came to speak to us. He was presenting on presenting, but he was great. One of the best speakers so far. Friday we presented our posters in true elevator pitch style, and then returned to our classroom for the discussion panel with Guy, Tom, Lantha, Sebastian, Brian, and Andrew. That was cool, and I even snuck a few pictures of Tom since he works for EA, and helped with Dante's Inferno. After that we did a True Colors exercise. Ever since then I've been told “William you're such a blue.” a ton. =D
Santana Row was pretty fun. I bought me a jacket, a shirt, and a hat, which was really nice. Other than that we just hung out, and had fun. Saturday we went to Great America, which wasn't bad, but it wasn't Universal, or even Six Flags. It was nice to get to hang out with some of the people I hadn't spent a lot of time with. On Sunday I went to mass at 10:30 with Enrique, and then went to eat with Jessica, Shubba, and Victoria. When I got back to the dorms I changed and went swimming with Christian, Beth, Ashley, Valeria, and Izzy. Christian, Beth, Ashley, Kasra, and I then did our laundry, and worked on our Hangamn homework. We had a nice break, when Carolyn showed up with the pizza, and that was also the first time I'd actually hung out with Lynn and Emily. It's sad that it took me a week to really talk to them. We then stayed up for a while a finished all our hangman programs before staying up really late making amd incalculable number of jokes.
Monday we heard about Google adwords, and I think that's the day Dan came to talk to us. He was hilarious and taught us Anagrable. He also played in Band, and got banned from some colleges, and Delta. Tuesday we had our Geek trivia game. My team, Suave Smooth (pronounced Suave-ay), didn't win, but we had a blast answering all the nerd trivia. Today was just a lot of class because our speaker couldn't make it. Jessica did talk about resumes though.
Well you're caught up, and probably bored to death. Hopefully, since this bad boy has officially been started I'll be able to include more fun stuffs in here since they'll be fresh.
A few inside things before I go:
“I just want to ride bikes with you.” or “I just want to bike rides with you.” - Kasra
“Guys, I think the building next to us is on fire. This one room was flashing, and I thought it was a rave, but
then the whole building starting flashing.” - Harvard (Kyle)
“Remember that time in Chinar?” Lori and Linda (adopted by anyone making fun of them)
Oh, and today Charles referenced Ariadne while describing how a program works. =D
The Google Basics
Today is Wednesday, August 4th. It is also day eleven of Google’s Computer Science Summer Institute. This place, much like Disney, has quickly become an experience that will be near impossible to top. Unlike Disney, however, I’ve found myself missing home at times. I miss my family, and my friends. I haven’t had a day go by where I don’t miss them, but at the same time I LOVE this. Caps don’t fully portray how much I love this place. Everyone I've met that works at Google is awesome.
Our “sponsors” (I’m not really sure what they’re called. They take care of the agenda, and all that jazz though.) are Kat, Carolyn, and Jessica. Jessica is really cool. She’s like the head “sponsor (?)” that takes care of the majority of the things we do. Kat is really nice too. She’s a lot of fun to talk to, and reminds me of Mrs. Cantu from Tascosa. Carolyn, I actually know the best from talking to her, and she’s one of the sweetest people I’ve ever met. Our teacher while we’re here is named Charles. Charles is a computer scientist, as well as an opera singer. He’s actually starring in Pirates of Penzance as the Pirate King (I think) while we’re here, but they didn’t get us tickets to any of his shows. In fact, he’s performing in Mountain View the day we leave. Sad face. He definitely has the voice of a singer, and his laugh is one of those laughs that you can never imitate, but you wish everyone could hear it.
The first day we were given mentors, and my mentor, Enrique, is really nice. He invited me to have lunch with him last Wednesday, and I got to meet some of the people he works with. It was really fun getting to talk to them. Other than that, we’ve got lectures from Jeremy, who works on Google Street View; Tara, who discussed diversity in Computer Science with us; Demian, who presented a presentation on how to present things; Anna, who did True Colors with us (I was a blue primarily, but pretty evenly spread out); and Angela, who discussed how Google Adwords worked. Those were the people who talked to us from Google. Outside of Google we’ve got the chance to listen to a Nasa engineer, Guy; an EA engineer, Tom; a Stanford professor, Sebastian; an Intel product marketing manager, Lantha; and two guys from startup companies, Brian and Andrew. I promise, if you stick with me for a few more informational things, I will get to the fun suff. =D
If you haven’t heard about it yet, Google is paying for almost everything. Also, if you haven’t heard, their employees get to eat for free. They have like 17 (?) cafés for the employees to go to. What’s nice about that is that a ton of the food here is healthy, while still maintaining the tasty stuff. Also (!!!), they have free cokes (including the glass bottle kind)/pepsis 24/7. I wouldn’t worry though, because I’ve had enough exercise and healthy food to cancel that out. I’ve almost managed to have a strawberry at every single one of my meals, only missing two because Google didn’t have them there. As for the exercise, last week I rode a Google bicycle back and forth from the campus we had class on to the main campus at least twice a day. Aside from that, walking to the stores right off of campus is a good distance. As for the general over all I think that covers all of it. I think, which means I can now start describing to you the fun stuff, like the people at CSSI with me, new games, etc…
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