Saturday, April 21, 2012

I've decided on a direction in my project on partons, and have more or less convinced my group that it's a good direction. I am happy that M has decided to join forces with me. Her expertise on fractional quantum Hall is invaluable, and the speed at which we're going is exciting. I like working with her. She is patient in her explanations, a quality that sounds easy to achieve, and yet is not a common trait. With her, I found out that talking was actually impossible in the enclosed staircase of 87 Prospect. A hypothesis formed in my mind as we were walking down. I yelled at her, 'You can't hear what I'm saying because of the echoes.' To which she looked confused and mouthed words that conveyed no meaning to me. To prove my hypothesis, I yelled it out, repeatedly.

It was the end of a long week when we departed. I had compressed three weeks of laboratory sessions  into one, so  that I may discharge my teaching obligations for the next two weeks. My advisor also has begun to rely on me more, and has placed more projects on my plate. I began projects with three postdocs in our group, and I've never talked so much physics in my life. Scurrying around like a harried rabbit to make back-to-back appointments. I actually overslept twice that week, by several hours - an event which is a rarity, even during my undergraduate years.

Friday night. I am blowing off steam by chilling in the lounge with T and P. YJ has just finished a talk with Duncan and he looks like a liberated man who's seen sunlight for the first time. We played pool, and drank free beer from PCTS. Later that night, I watched a run of 7 (9?) episodes of Eureka 7. This anime is turning out to be phenomenally good, especially during the run when Eureka and Renton are separated. They are finally reunited through a breathtaking mid-air maneuvre; I felt impelled that night to watch every single episode between separation and unification. I feel I could watch it all over again. The emotions in this anime are strong, yet believable - the physical manifestations of emotions are so well-drawn! I felt this way about Summer Wars, as well.

I'm still looking for a good fantasy book lately. I tried Game of Thrones, but the sparseness of the prose left me disappointed and I didn't finish it. Right now I'm trying the Weirdstone of Brisingamen, which has received fantastic reviews. But curiously the personalities of the two main protagonists are never fleshed out. Maybe it is intentional, and is meant to encourage the reader's insertion into the protagonists' roles. However, I am not liking this shallow characterization; I'll keep reading for now; at least the prose is good. Oh Sanderson, when are you going to finish!

Monday, April 16, 2012

Dear N,

The way you described Amnesty to me sounded almost like a religious cult, in which members demonstrate unquestioning obedience and fervor. Did you find the intellectual discussions you were looking for in Amnesty?

I am glad that you are in love. It sounds like C has similar ambitions as you do. Is C, too, disillusioned with Amnesty?

I myself am looking for romance. Since my social circle has not been expanding lately, I've decided to expand my activities, and rediscover the passions of old hobbies. Like Chess. I'm looking for a chess club. Like Salsa. I find myself drawn to the salsa scene here in Princeton.

Quite recently I went home to Singapore for a week, always an experience that leaves me emotionally ebullient. My sister N is currently doing an internship at Aware, an organization for women's rights in Singapore. She is faring much better there than you in Amnesty. You are right about the point of an internship of course, and N is learning much about ways to practice feminism in society, and she has close relationships with many of the top people in Aware. In fact, she applied to Amnesty in SF as well during the same time as you, but on hindsight (on your hindsight, that is) I'm glad she didn't go down that path.

It is very discouraging that you can't find a job. I don't know if the bad economy is the reason, or the nature of your major: political science. Probably both. How the humanities people struggle! What good is political science in today's job market? I read a story by Henry David Thoreau recently. I paraphrase:

An impoverished Indian was walking down the street and noticed in stark contrast how well his rich white lawyer neighbor is faring. The Indian thought to himself, I cannot weave arguments in court, but I can certainly weave! And so he weaved with great effort a beautiful basket, and returned to the lawyer in a week, bearing the basket to sell. The lawyer refused, and the Indian was astounded, then infuriated. So convinced was he of the worth of his basket, that he had never thought he would need to persuade other people of its worth. "I (Henry) myself have woven a basket of a delicate texture, but I had not made it worth anyone's while to buy them. Yet not the less did I think it worth my while to weave them, and instead of studying how to make it worth men's while to buy my baskets, I studied rather how to avoid the necessity of selling them."

Please don't feel bad about the 500 dollars. I've always thought of it as a loan with little or highly flexible constraints, and I do not doubt your commitment in returning it.

Mongolia! I can see how remote, exotic Mongolia may appeal to some people, but not you, because your humanitarian passion is always coupled with the desire for self-improvement and involvement with a global society. I see the pickle you are in, my friend. I believe an argument can be made for Mongolia against China, but before that, I would address my first thought: is this really an exclusive choice between A and B, or could you in principle eat both pies? In particular, I wonder why you say that you would be turning Peace Corp down for good? Could you (i) tell Peace Corps to hold onto your account till they have an opening in China, or (ii) reapply another year for China with exactly the same essays?

Love,
Aris

Sunday, April 15, 2012

Hi Imps, my saturday was spent helping MEW make an i-phone application, and then had a really promising group meeting, where suddenly the projects that I had just exploded. A. wants me to have a different project with all 4 post-docs and the other graduate student in the group. It's exciting because I feel can almost meet his expectations, I'm approaching a level where I can talk to a lot of people and understand their various ideas and cultivate new ideas.

Tuesday, April 10, 2012

It's been a while since I've felt like a beginner. After months of excuses, I find myself drawn to the salsa scene here in Princeton. After San Diego, a lot of joy went out of salsa, but I'm glad the vessel is not emptied, that the urge to dance never completely left me. I thought I'd begin with the beginner class to refresh myself; I actually thought I would feel a bit smug dancing with true beginners, that I would revel in my relative expertise. But I grew increasingly alarmed as the class went on. The basic steps of New York salsa were different, almost opposite, and my experience with San Diego salsa actually clashed with trying to master NY salsa. So ingrained was my desire to bring my left foot forward on 1! Now, the left foot goes back on 1, despite my inner voice crying out no. The first lesson turned out to be a struggle, so much so the instructors paid special attention to me. They were really patient. No, the other foot, they would say. Yes, I know!