Monthly Archive for May, 2007

The Final Ascent of Mt. Kilimanjaro

Published on 23 May 2007 in Journal and Memorable. 2 Comments Tags: , , , , .

Mt Kilimanjaro amongst the clouds

This is a piece that I’ve been meaning to put up here for quite some time. In the summer of 2001, I spent a month in Tanzania on a mission project, and, at the end of that time, I climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro. I was fifteen years old at the time, and it was probably one of the roughest periods of my life for innumerable personal reasons. There were many moments when I didn’t feel like I was ever going to possibly make it up the mountain, but I did.

Now is one of those times where I think it’s good to remind myself both of the difficulty of that final nighttime ascent of the mountain and of the fact that I made it in the end.

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What Happens When The Brain Just Stops

Published on 23 May 2007 in Journal and Memorable. 0 Comments Tags: , , .

Well, this might take a while to figure out
So don’t you rush it
And hold your head up high right through the doubt
‘Cause it’s just a matter of time
You’ve been running so fast
It’s the seven day mile
Has you torn in-between here and running away

– “Seven Day Mile” by the Frames

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Gah! Quals!

Published on 21 May 2007 in Journal. 5 Comments Tags: .

The much-dreaded day is nearly upon me. This morning I went and picked up the problem I’m expected to present on for my Ph.D. qualifier tomorrow morning. I’ve spent the day working out all the math neatly and putting together a host of PowerPoint slides to accompany me. Our instructions say that we are to prepare a 20 minute presentation on this problem, and that we should then expect 20 minutes worth of questions on this problem followed by 20 minutes spent on an additional problem. My feeling is that they must be expecting me to write all of this problem on the blackboard because I have yet to hit 20 minutes practicing my presentation of this problem, and I’ve added in a fair amount of additional commentary beyond what’s been asked directly in the question. Here’s hoping that I’m not stealing too much of their thunder.

If all goes well with the candidates scheduled before me, I’ll be receiving my Q-exam tomorrow (Tuesday) morning between 10:00 and 11:00 EST (15:00 and 16:00 GMT). Any and all happy and/or calming thoughts anyone can spare for me during that time would be very much appreciated. I’ll see you all on the other side.