claim to fame for the day
Check out MIT’s homepage today … Yours truly is featured :)
*edit* My feature got taken down ~4pm, so the claim to fame only lasted ~16 hours (from midnight). If you didn’t catch it, it’s gone forever.
Conjured Activism
conquering the world one oxymoron at a timeArchive for August, 2005
triathlon diaries continued …
With about a week to go until our triathlon, here is my current condition:
- 500m swim time: 9:33 minutes. This time is a WHOLE minute faster than about a month ago! This also means that I am averaging <2:00 per 100 meters.
- bike average speed: 17 mph. This speed is sustainable, and includes hills, whereas I could barely keep this speed on the flat minuteman 1.5 months ago.
- run average distance: 2 miles. Running still remains my weakest. However, now I can confidently run 2 miles at a pace of ~8.5 min/mile. At the beginning of the summer, I could only run 5 minutes at a time.
So the progress is good. I feel okay going into this triathlon. There is DEFINITELY room for improvement, but I feel like I have already come a long long way this summer. The rest will be harder as the slope for improvement increases in steepness … but we’ll just have to take one day at a time.
forgive and forget
One of the most important life philosophies is to forgive and to forget. I often do not abide by this philosophy and instead choose to hold grudges. This is stressful for me because I constantly want to tell people why I hold such and such a grudge. Sometimes, the grudges are because of my own biases, and I find ways to skew stories so that my audience would be more likely to agree with me and why I am holding a grudge.
I think what happens mainly is that I lose track of the big picture and start digging deeper and deeper into the little things. I need to better learn to be able to step back, take a deep breath, and tell myself that every thing is going to be a-okay. And then to believe it.
water water everywhere
I’m in one of those situations again. Too much to do, too little time. I am never quite sure how I get into these situations until they are all around me. I guess I don’t think ahead very much, and I tend to bite off more than I can chew when it comes to extracurriculars or just life in general. I think I can do a bunch of stuff, but I just end up stressing/burning myself out. I need to learn to say no to opportunities …
Having finished GRT training, I feel like I need to start doing things at this point … maybe make some brownies for the kids? Having orientation start next Monday, I feel like I need to take care of everything, all the last minute details. Having been away from lab for 3 days for GRT training, I feel like I need to get some serious work done. Having done nothing productive all summer, I feel like I need to get some serious work done. Having the triathlon be less than two weeks away, I feel like I need to improve my swim time. Having the school year start, I feel like I need to have our lab webpage up and running. Having Ryan’s extended family come visit, I feel like I need to clean my place up. Having Kaplan training start (again) in two weeks, I feel like I need to do a lot of the prepratory work. Having school start, I feel like I need to pick classes to take.
And the list goes on and on and on and on … I think I’m drowning …
so what do you say?
What do you say when someone asks you a question, expecting a certain answer? For example, a mother walked up to Hector, Phil, and me in the Student Center and asked us how well we felt her son would fit in at MIT. She described her son as “not very social” and was worried that he would not find friends here and thus would stay in his room a lot. What she wants us to say is “oh actually you have nothing to worry about, this is a great place, your son will do just great” The reality is that her son would probably stay in his room and play computer games all the time. So do we, as complete strangers, placate her and give her the answer that she wants to hear, leaving her feeling happy? Or do we, as complete strangers, tell her the truth and leave her feeling depressed?
I feel bad making anyone depressed, especially if that depression is caused by something I said. But then do I lie to her, settling her fears, only for her son to come to MIT and be anti-social? Am I prepared to accept those ramifications? I don’t feel like it’s really my place as a complete stranger to even answer this woman’s question. And she obviously WANTS me to tell her “no no, everything will be okay.”
So in situations like this, do we force feed her what she wants to hear? Or do we tell it like it is?
Ironic
Remember 1995? I do. The song of the year (for me) was Alanis Morissette’s Ironic. I memorized her songs, bought her CD (my first!), and all in all worshipped her. Because of this, Alanis has always had a special place in my heart. Who can forget one’s first CD, right?
So there have been a couple of flashbacks to 1995 these past two weeks. While in Chicago the weekend before last, I saw one member of my middle school posse (I’m lazy, so I haven’t posted pictures yet … but they’re coming). Not having seen each other since the end of 8th grade wasn’t even an issue. We filled in the gaps and went on yapping like any good friends would. It truly amazes me how some friendships last forever seemingly naturally, while others wither regardless of how much I work to maintain them.
Flashback #2 is more how my recent life deserves a song from the past to describe it, and none other than Ironic. Those closest to me know that I have been struggling for some time now with this idea of grad school, and my lack of excitement for my current project does not help my struggles. I left computer engineering because I disliked programming day in, day out. I switched fields to pursue bioengineering because I thought that I would be more interested in it. However, what ended up happening was that my computer engineering background made me a shoe-in for projects that involve computational modeling. So the irony comes from the fact that I left computer engineering because I didn’t enjoy it, but in the end, in bioengineering, I still got pidgeon-holed into programming doing exactly what I tried to avoid by leaving computer engineering.
Isn’t it ironic? Don’t you think?
A little too ironic, and yeah, I really do think
It’s like rain on your wedding day
It’s a free ride when you’ve already paid
It’s good advice, that you just didn’t take
And who would have thought it figures?
Idol in Boston
As an avid follower of American Idol last season, I am happy to announce that American Idol auditions are coming to Boston! Check out www.idolonfox.com. It’s also going to be in Chicago :) I wonder if anyone I know will make it on this year? I didn’t know anyone last year, but had the remote wahoo connection with Travis. I don’t even remember his last name now … shows you how transient this show is … but Carrie Underwood is pretty cute, and I’m not afraid to say that.
today’s dose of cheese
I’ve been following this story of the Russian submarine that has been trapped under water with limited oxygen and power. One headline spells out the reason for my sentiments: “World unites to save Russian submarine crew.” I felt a tinge of pride/hope/euphoria reading that headline, that we are still able to put our differences aside and unite together to save lives.
One thing that does disappoint me is that almost every single article on this topic mentions an accident that happened back in 2000 when Russia refused international aid, and their sub sank as a result, killing 118 people. The articles mention these past few days events as a “sharp contrast” to the events of 2000, reminding everyone that Russia was stupid and foolish in not asking for international aid in 2000 until it was too late. And oh yeah, Russia’s naval power should also be questioned because they really aren’t what they used to …
Now my question is … are these jabs really necessary? Why can’t we just stop at a happy story about the world coming together? It’s almost as if it’s too much to have a completely happy story involving Russia. Some depressing things must be added in to tone down the otherwise positive tone the article used toward Russia, just to remind us all that the west and Russia are still having issues with each other.
new link!
I moved my blog to a simpler address: http://www.shanwu.com/blog instead of the originally tedious one. Please update your links!
workout schedule
Sundays: AM run
Mondays: AM swim, PM chest+arms workout
Tuesdays: AM bike, PM volleyball
Wednesdays: AM swim, PM legs workout
Thursday: AM swim
Friday: AM run, PM back workout
Saturday: AM bike
Everyday: Abs workout