You don't come and I don't follow

DSCN0575
Originally uploaded by Mike W..

Ice fishing blast off in few minutes minutes. I need to pack, shower, procure some dank Sauce, and get my game face.
This marks the one year anniversary of me meeting Digs. It's been all down hill since then. Nothing like vodka straight from the bottle at 10am with the covers still on!

2:20am Library Billy

Nah
Originally uploaded by Mike W..

The library is a desolate place with no signs of social activity. Or intellectual activity. That could just be my corner. I picked the corner because it seemed bigger than the other areas, like I wouldn't be confined to 'the institutional way' of thinking. I hate thinking that way.
I applied to LDS Brazil. I finished my intermediate econ homework, it was more like remedial econ. Why did I even bring my notes. I should have just tried to test out of this class.
Some drunk dials are good. Some are better.
My CD player is out of batteries and my PDA is cramping my style, so I listened to internet radio.
Next week will be big time Hell, but there's a huge beach between right now and next week, so I must get my sun glasses. Not those goggles that some girls where. I wonder if they aren't on a mission to the sun. Rediculous.

Rare, but stayed straight

5X Spoon
Originally uploaded by Mike W..

I was the last one in the lab this evening again. It's pretty chill down there while occupied, but when it's just me... real chill.
It's midnight, just getting the school work started. Well, after I apply for the Leadership Development Conference in Brazil.
Several foreigners are in our house right now, most related to a culture that speaks French.

I will be making a trip to Austin, perhaps the last weekend in April, perhaps the 2nd in May.

When the dust has cleared, victory denied

Originally uploaded by Mike W..

Boss has entrusted me with discovering 3 currently unpublished cross sections. They are at 3350.9nm (50 and 100 electron-volts) and at 3373.5nm (25eV). I have to come to him in 2-3 weeks with numbers I'm confident in.

For all the little guys

AIESEC Madison helped raise several hundred dollars in donations this weekend for the tsunami victims. We are also involved in a large collaborative effort to create an event for further fundraising.
I am working to create a AIESEC Learning Program for our membership (focused on inexperienced members). In the near future I will also be working on creating some leadership development activities.

Here's my class list:
Electricity and Magnetism
Intermediate Physics Lab II
Applied Math Analysis II (PDE's, Fourier analysis, blah blah)
Intermediate Microeconomics
How to Pet your Dog (in lecture the other day: "Don't let your dog drink anti-freeze")

The Mandate: Private Middle School Party

2 Kegs
3 Handles of UV
1 Tapper
1 Tub
Keg Deposits
Ice
= $96

Martin would like to thank Reiley's for sponsoring his birthday party. A mandate has risen as to what form you should be in when you pick up your sylabus tomorrow.
How college of us. I can't even spell sylabus.

No regrets, that and everybody wang chung tonight

"President Bush: Well, like you, I felt like we'd find weapons of mass destruction. Or like many, many here in the United States, many around the world, the United Nations thought he had weapons of mass destruction, and so therefore, one, we need to find out what went wrong in the intelligence gathering. Saddam was dangerous. And . . . the world was safer without him in power.
"Walters: But was it worth it if there were no weapons of mass destruction? Now that we know that that was wrong? Was it worth it?
"Bush: Oh, absolutely."
...
The Associated Press helpfully chronicles administration statements on WMD before and after the invasion of Iraq in March 2003. Among them:
• "Simply stated, there is no doubt that Saddam Hussein now has weapons of mass destruction. There is no doubt he is amassing them to use against our friends, against our allies, and against us." -- Vice President Cheney, Aug. 26, 2002.
And:
• "Saddam Hussein is a man who told the world he wouldn't have weapons of mass destruction, but he's got them." -- Bush, Nov. 3, 2002.
And let's all remember that these comments came considerably before then-CIA Director George J. Tenet's assertion that the WMD case was a "slam dunk," in late December of 2002. By that point, Bush and Cheney had clearly already made up their minds.
(Washington Post)

Commercialize my life and buy my smile

There was a time when the words "wedding" and "commerce" were not inextricably linked, but at least for lovebirds nesting in the upper branches of the socioeconomic tree, that time is apparently over. (NYTIMES)

All that's left is birth and death. A matter of time, perhaps.

Unrealized Potential

If you will allow me, I might say that I have acquired pretty decent aim in spitting my toothpaste down the drain. Two for two this evening. Maybe I will keep a tally for the week.
I didn't quite finish my to-do list. It was hefty, but plausible. Don't start the most important thing last. I knew that lesson but didn't listen. Won't do it again.
I'll be applying to the Singapore, Ghanna, and Cairo study abroad programs. First app and rough draft of essay should be completed tomorrow if all goes well.
I must also finish creating the CEED application. Interested in coming to Madison? We've got some nice projects lined up.
I need a back-up battery for my pocket PC. Should it really go bad after only a little less than 2 years?
A slight snore escapes the opposite corner. It grows.

You keep messing up my beat

So, AIESEC has come out with new branding. I finally got my hands on a Word document template. Acquiring that is a whole different story. Let's just say I unzipped one file to find more zipped files over 4 times.
Anyway, so I get my word document. It looks pretty, but is completely non-functional. I can't even figure out how to tab over. It keeps taking me "to the next cell."
That rhymes with 'what the hell.'
I'm not a dumb user.
Why make something that looks pretty but is unusable?
Guess this document won't be compliant with the new brand rulez.

It was 10 in a row

If the minutes need to be passed, entertain a short synopsis of a recent evening:
http://www.ofoto.com/I.jsp?c=y2vi20x.2x31jne5&x=0&y=-fj25u7

Don't get too high and keep your feet on the ground

One of my goals of 2005 is to do everything with more efficiency. Right now I'm an S-10. I want to be an Echo.

So close apart

Five hours and little progress. My studies will include physics, regardless. It leaves many options open.
I'd like to learn another language.

I return to Madison in a little over a day. I will work in the lab for 3 days, and also have a large personal list of tasks. That goes for monday as well, sans the lightless lab.
The problem with conferences is they always shake me up a bit. I'm supposed to be the shaker.

Same Place, same time

I have finally achieved a bit of equilibrium as far as sleep is concerned. We went for two extra days beyond the conference and thus my body couldn't fend off sickness to that extent. A Kleenex box is next to me.
The evening after the conference we stayed with Dody. Many thanks to him and his superb hospitality. I'll post some pictures of the hilarity that ensued that night. Do not let me forget that it was Madison and Austin that camped with him that night. A new Ausitn-Madison Axis has been formed, maybe even a coalition of the Willing. We had good times and the evening ended with a 5 person spoon on his futon. Thanks Dody, for being such a great facilitator. P.S. your office is pretty sweet. I'll be looking for hire in about 2 years...
The next night Phil and Agnes came up to Madison to enjoy a little culture. Exhaustion got the best of us, so the only thing from our large agenda accomplished was sledding. That and a little Wisconsin Elixir. Austin is dang cool, and we've committed to making a trip down there for more revelry.
Hopefully we can show the rest of the country how beneficial it is for LC's to take some risks and really bond together. I don't see a lot of that right now.
My reunion dreams finally came true, and Emir and I had a little tour. We created the 6-4-6 initiative, of which we were the only members. 6am is pretty late to stay up on alternate nights I agree, but what happened to the party in AIESEC? I could barely get anyone to stay up until 4.
So now it's back to my usualy dwellings on what to do with my life, though with more angst and urgency.
My poor engineering grade could hurt chances of getting into the singapore study abroad, so now i've added cairo and ghana to the list. Singapore is the first love, and it will be mucho difficult if I'm forced to release the reigns. The first love always seems so perfect.
My nalgene made it through several conferences and social events, but I believe it has finally been laid to rest near the Abe Lincoln statue on the UW Madison campus. Rest its soul and may it find peace in its destination. It'll be waiting for me in hell. I'll wake it up when i get there.
Tomorrow I plan to return to the ititial place of my childhood for a final run through. My grandparents will probably be selling their old home in the near future, so I've decided to return to relive the memories a final time.
After that, its all in my head.

So many miles and so many roads

I've eaten quite a bit of food this evening, but I'm still hungry. Chili, crackers, and chicken curry leftovers apparantly wasn't enough. Not fullfilled.
In a messed up sort of way, that is what 2004 was for me. I filled my plate to the brim and accopmlished much, but throughout it all, I've always remained hungry, not quite pleased. It comes down to matching finding a harmony between my desires and my passions. I've always used extracurricular activities as my outlet to pursue things I'm really interested in and that have a positive effect in the community or world. Most of my energy goes there. This year, however, I was not able to meet my standards for gpa while doing so. It has put a light on a decision I've been putting off for quite some time. Do I see myself as an engineer? I've been carried on false momentum for a very long time. More often than not I am seeing myself on the ground working to develop people or an environment, not in a falsely secure office in a far off wonderland surrounded by people wondering when they can buy their next Plasma TV or splurge on that Jaguar.
If I started a company, it would be focused around developing its employees as people. If you sign on, you submit yourself to becoming a better person. That and you're going to work hard for the company doing whatever we do.
I should really focus my thoughts sometime. In the meantime, I may be switching to Physics and Economics. Developmental economics just sounds so enticing.
And I could always fall back on physics if I became a cold hollow shell.