Tag Archive for ‘memorable’ at Curious Notions

Tag Archive for 'memorable'

The Final Ascent of Mt. Kilimanjaro

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on 5/23/2007

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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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The Year in Review

Published

Nicole

on 12/31/2006

in Journal and memorable

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It’s the final day of 2006, which means it’s time for me to engage in a bit of reflection. I must admit that I haven’t really prepared for this, and it’s tempting to paste a meme, even though I try to avoid doing that here. But here goes my year in review:
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Commencement

Published

Nicole

on 5/31/2006

in Journal and memorable

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Graduation

Now that graduation was ten days ago, it’s really about time for me to say something about it. I’ve got just about all of the photos I have from the weekend uploaded.

The weekend was a complete whirlwind of activity. On Friday night, after my parents and grandparents made it in to town, we went out to dinner at Anatolia Cafe with my advisor, Dr. White. That was a lot of fun. My grandfather could not stop saying how thrilled he was that I’d gotten into Cornell. I think he went into that topic about five times over the course of dinner.

We had rehearsal on Saturday morning, and, in the afternoon, my family and I went to the Honors Awards Ceremony where I received a 2nd place prize in engineering for my poster at the research symposium as well as a departmental award for a student who “shows promise in professional leadership”. That was quite a surprise. The other student who received the prize was a much more obvious choice than I was: he’s been president of the Case student chapter of AIAA and has led the Design, Build, Fly team nearly every year. I, on the other hand, never even joined one of the professional organizations associated with our department. The only excuse I can come up with is that I showed leadership in class and such. Even then, though, I feel like that’s more perceived leadership on the part of other students rather than actual leadership on my part. In any case, I was flattered.

My family had a chance at the rehearsal afterward to meet Dr. Joe Prahl, the head of my department. Prahl is perhaps best described as “a character”. My parents still remember meeting him when I came to visit campus the first time. I think they were a little less freaked out this time around. Maybe.

That evening my family went out with Mark and Jessica’s families at Peking Chinese. As predicted, the puns were rolling. It was another one of those dinners that I honestly didn’t want to come to an end.

As I mentioned the morning of graduation, the day started out rainy. We all got our regalia on and headed down in the rain with umbrellas for the procession. While we were waiting in the line-up, the sky cleared and the sun came out. It turned into a gorgeous day not long before the bagpipes from the law school reached us. For the procession, all of the graduating students (undergrads, graduates, and professional students) start out at their school on campus, fully decked out in ceremonial garb. Different schools fall in together as they make their way in lines across campus. From Adelbert, the platform party, which includes the President, Provost, University Marshall, etc., leads the emeritus faculty and the faculty. These groups, followed by students from the law school, management school, and the school of applied social sciences, processed (also in full regalia) through lines of undergraduates. We had to applaud the entire time they passed, which really does a number on one’s hands. Eventually, we fell into step behind them and all the groups made their way into Veale, parading past rows of parents and family members who were held back by ribbons and volunteers. Having waited four years to participate in one of these procession, I was thrilled and grinning the whole time. Video cameras were strategically placed along the way so that the procession outside could be broadcasted within Veale. All very exciting.

Veale itself was pretty decked out. We made our way through the formalities: the giving of honorary doctorates, the key note speech from Julie Gerberding, and such. Hundert conferred degrees upon each separate batch of students, and we got to cheer a lot. There was a recession where the graduate and professional students left, and soon thereafter the undergraduate diploma ceremony where they actually gave us our degrees began. It was somewhat disappointing that I received my diploma from Dean Savinell rather than from Hundert, but such is life. They also didn’t read my major–it was in the program–but they did note that I graduated magna cum laude, which thrilled my family to no end. I was the only female aerospace engineering graduate, and one of only two aerospace majors to graduate with honors!

They had people stationed at the bottom of the stage’s stairs to catch people in case they tripped. The person waiting on my side happened to be the professor who was my freshman advisor way back when. He’s an accounting professor, so I hadn’t seen him in quite awhile. I had just enough time to tell him that I was glad to see him again and give him a quick hug before dashing back to my seat.

After that ceremony–and its haphazard recession–we had a reception in Adelbert, which involved lots and lots of pictures. In fact, most of my Commencement photos are from then. I got to see quite a few people one last time, including Dr. White, Dr. Alexander, Dr. Prahl, Dr. Ritzmann, Chris, Tim, Lisa, Christian, and Michael. Of course, there were also lots of pictures with me with Mark and Jessica and my family. Really, I’m shocked at how many good pictures we got!

The whole weekend was a pretty bizarre experience. We were all quite happy, of course, because we were graduating, but, at the same time, it was terribly depressing because we knew time was running out. My family ended up going back to the Turkish restaurant with Mark’s folks that evening and having our fill of excellent food and company. We got back to the apartment completely stuffed, but nonetheless, we had to pack. I think my family may have been surprised at how quickly I managed to get things packed and ready to stow in the U-Haul they rented. Having done this routine a few times now, it’s getting familiar. They left later, and I got to spend one last night with my suitemates and friends.

I stayed up far, far later than I ought to have, given the early start my family had planned for the next day. But, as I was hanging out with Christian and Brooke and Mark and Jessica for the last time, I couldn’t resist. It was my last night living in a college dorm, and there’s nothing like that atmosphere for making friends and having fun at any hour. I didn’t regret staying up until the wee hours of the morning, even when my cell phone alarm went off the next morning. At that point, I packed the last of my things and stowed them in Mark’s car while he drove me to my parents’ hotel. We both cried.

My family piled into the van and drove off, making it back to North Carolina early in the evening. All of my things got stacked along the walls of the garage, and most of it has remained there. I’ve taken over the guest bedroom and have done a few things to make it my own: putting my own sheets on the bed and hanging my framed degree on the wall, etc. Mark is coming to visit for the weekend and is expected to arrive tomorrow. I’m really looking forward to that. I’ve spoken to Jessica online once or twice. Today she left amusing comments scattered throughout the Commencement gallery. Good times.

All the same, I miss college and my friends and Case. Even though I look at the degree every day, I can’t believe what it says. I’m officially a rocket scientist now.

Momentous Occasions

Published

Nicole

on 5/1/2006

in Journal

. 2 Comments

I suppose that there are only a couple of exciting things to report from the last few days. On Friday I donated blood for the second time, and it was not nearly so pleasant an experience. The loss of blood volume meant that, after standing outside for the dedication of the Newton tree, I quite nearly passed out while standing in line for a sandwich. I actually had to be helped to a table and ended up going to health services after the incident. This was the second time this semester that I’d nearly passed out–with the same symptoms both times but different triggers. It turns out that I just need to stay aware of my blood pressure. The signs don’t point to this being a problem I’ll have to face frequently (especially with high blood pressure running in my family) but it’s something I should keep in mind when standing in lines, apparently.

As if that excitement weren’t enough, my nurses seem to have been incompetent, leaving me with a triangular red bruise nearly 2 cm a side set against a purplish background. It’s pretty hideous looking, although it doesn’t actually hurt. The interesting thing is that the bruise is nowhere near where they drew the blood. It also looks like I’m developing an allergic reaction there, which worries me…

Today was the big presentation to people from NASA. Everything went pretty smoothly. There were questions we couldn’t answer, but most of those were squarely outside of the scope that we defined for the project, so we were safe. Now I get to dedicate the next two days of my life to making this report as perfect as possible. Because I want that A, dammit.

Today also marked my last day of undergraduate classes. From here, there’s just one final, a couple of project reports, (some more research), and possibly one graduate homework and then my undergraduate career will be over. What a thought. As a kid, you never imagine that you’ll ever get done with these things. Of course, I remember a time when sixth-graders were like unto gods. And, now, I tend to look at college freshmen and think, “Oh, look at the little freshman! I wish they knew how nice they had it!” Goes to show how things change, I guess.

Glen Hansard Interview

Published

Nicole

on 12/19/2005

in Asides and memorable

. 1 Comment

In more Frames news, Ross of Broken Sounds has posted the results of his interview with Glen Hansard:

Fans will know that Frames concerts are peppered with verbal interludes of Glen spinning tales about the inspiration behind his songs. This works both as entertainment and as an insight into the songwriting craft. If pressed further on the subject, however, Glen is entertainingly elusive. “I wouldn’t be able to tell you what informs my lyrics even though I write them,” he laughs. “I was watching a Bruce Springsteen DVD recently, and he was asked a question about the meaning behind one of his songs. He said, “Now, was I thinking that when I wrote it? Not at all. Was I feeling it? Every bit of it”.” #

On a personal note:

It is this openness and abundance of affection for his audience that continues to attract new listeners to The Frames. One fan recently wrote on a music website that the appeal behind the band’s majestic yet intimate live performances was that, in spite of the adulation he receives, Glen remains human and down-to-earth. “That’s good to know,” Glen says, sounding genuinely flattered. “What other option is there? What else can one do? If you are not singing about human, then you are lying.”

That fan would be me.

Bringing It Home

Published

Nicole

on 11/25/2005

in Journal and memorable

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My trip to North Carolina on Wednesday was largely uneventful, despite national news coverage of the weather in Ohio as I left. On the second flight, however, things took a turn for the unpleasant. Midway through the flight the captain came on the loudspeaker, and, between the crackle of the system and the roaring of the engines, I could tell that this was no ordinary announcement. Nor was it of the John-Cleese-the-wings-are-not-on-fire sort. I wish to God that it had been.

Instead, what I could make out of the pilot’s speech was this: we had two American soldiers–the pilot used the words “two American heroes,” and I’ll agree out of respect for those who serve in the military–onboard our flight. One, whose rank I didn’t catch, was escorting his friend, a staff sergeant, back home. For the last time. They had both been in Iraq.

When we landed, the escort rose and made his way to the front of the aircraft, while the remainder of the passengers remained seated, applauding. He paused at the entry, raised his hand, nodded once. I can’t be certain, but it looked as though the back of his head was scarred and slightly burnt. The pilot and co-pilot met him and led him off the plane. From my place over the starboard wing of the aircraft, I watched as a white hearse drove up, and an officer carrying a flag, wrapped in the same triangle we used to make at Girl Scout camp, greeted the escort with a salute. Several minutes later, a dozen more soldiers marched into place on either side of the cargo belt. A coffin, black in the night, crawled into view and they spread the flag over it while the guard saluted.

Tears burned in my eyes, but I resisted the urge to cry in public. Who was the young man and why had he gone to war? Why did the government send him?

I burst into tears the moment I hugged my father, and, for awhile, my parents couldn’t understand my attempts at explanation. How terrible and shallow was I to think little of going home to see my family when this young man would never see his family again?

It’s easy enough to ignore the pictures of coffins on television or the headlines when they announce a new mark for the number of soldiers killed (the civilians remain unnumbered and will remain so). But I can’t see how anyone can face those coffins and flags and uncomforted families. How can we let this go on?

First Hand Flight Dynamics

Published

Nicole

on 9/14/2005

in Journal and memorable

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Cessna 172s My Saturday (September 10th, for those who are counting) started early last week. A couple of my classmates and I were awake enough to watch the sun rise on our way to OSU’s airport for an optional “class field trip”. Our professor arranged flight tests for us so that we could experience some of the manuevers we learn about in flight dynamics. Or, to put it in the terms my classmates and I would use: he provided an awesome excuse for us to get to fly in Cessna 172s.

Although I’ve had more commercial flights than I can count in the past six or seven years, I’d never flown on a small aircraft before. Doing so was tremendously fun. I crunched into the rear seat behind the pilot, which, sadly, did not provide the best views, but it was cool nonetheless. We only had three headsets amongst four people (and the mic didn’t work on one), so that prevented some question-asking–and some of the measurements we were meant to be taking, but that provided me with an excuse to sit back and enjoy the ride. I got some nice photos of the aircraft and aerial views of the area.

Aerial view Being crazy like I am, the most fun was naturally to be had during the manuevers. Going into the flight, I figured that the phugoid would be the highlight, since our professor made it clear that some people tend to dislike the feeling of the oscillatory motion. But the real highlights were the demonstrated stalls. Up and up the nose went, and I could feel the aircraft slowing down. When an aircraft cruises, I typically feel like I’m as well supported as I am when driving on a road. But slow down, and I can feel the “bouyant” force slipping. The thread holding us up gets thinner and thinner. A warning whistle fires, its sound shriller as we continue to climb. The nose pitches downward, and those of us taken by surprise grab for something to hold on to. But by the time we realize the futility of that, the aircraft has recovered and the pilot has us back in steady flight. We did that three times, and I think all of us would have been happy to do it a few more times.

I was sorry when the flight ended, but I guess that’s just motivation for me to: a) become friends with a pilot or b) get my own pilot’s license. In the meantime, though, I have to get that aerospace degree finished.

B’s Visit Part Three

Published

Nicole

on 9/3/2005

in Journal and memorable

. 2 Comments

Day Three

Everyone slept late Monday morning, and we spent most of the day in the apartment, hanging out, unpacking boxes, etc. This led to B trying to teach me Irish–or at least pronunciation of Irish–and a lot of jokes. Listening to my flatmates attempt to pronounce Irish names that B wrote down was pretty damn amusing, especially when it came to the name Daithí, the Irish version of David. B was explaining that ds are often pronounced like js in Irish. “Except Daithí because that would just be silly.” You’ll be, um, pleased to know that you have been immortalized into our private vocabulary, B. I heard Eric proclaim “that would just be silly” a couple minutes ago while I was typing this.

Life's funnier with friends around That afternoon we completed another important errand: taking B to the bookstore to get her Case hoodie. We got Lindsey a gift there, too, but I’m not allowed to say what it is because she hasn’t gotten it yet. I’ll just say that it was appropriate.

Jessica and Eric left midday for a camping trip, so it was only Mark, B, and I who made the trip to Coventry that night to eat at BD’s Mongolian Barbeque (which, B informed us, is completely unlike food in Mongolia. Not that we were surprised.) As an aside, I’d like to point out that the first picture in their site’s photo gallery is definitely a picture of the BD’s my family and I used to eat at when we lived in Michigan. This photo, on the other hand, looks a lot like the Cleveland restaurant.

B checking e-mail on my laptop Dinner was pretty good, even though they’ve changed the place a lot since we went there last. We freaked the waiter out a bit, I think, when he asked us what we were studying and we answered that we were studying medicine, computer science, and aerospace engineering. Light topics all around, as I like to say!

After dinner we popped in Big Fun for a little while. That place never ceases to be filled with the most bizarre, eclectic mix of stuff. We’re talking everything from Futurama paper dolls to Jesus Christ action figures. I picked up a couple of figurines from The Nightmare Before Christmas for my sister’s birthday, and B got several copies of one of the most bizarre guidebooks I’ve ever seen. If I remember correctly, the title was something along the lines of The Gay Man’s Guide to Heterosexuals. “Do you think they’ll think I’m odd if I buy three copies?”

As we walked home from the Greenie stop, we had the greatest B moment ever. She stopped in the middle of the sidewalk with a perplexed look on her face and asked, “Is the telegraph pole deaf?” Sure enough, the sign hanging on the pole says “Deaf person”, not “Deaf person in area” or anything like that. I imagine it was one of those moments that’s funniest when you witness it, but I can’t help but laugh when I pass that pole now.

Most of our evening was spent sitting on the floor of the Greyhound station waiting for her 12:40 bus to NYC. We spent our time discussing places we’d been and places we wanted to go. Unsurprisingly, she’s got me beat on all places-we’ve-been accounts except one: I’ve climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro, and that’s still on her list. Maybe I’ll be insane one of these days and go climb that mountain again. (One of the reasons I actually made it to the top was that I swore I’d never climb the rest of it over again, so I’d best get to the top the first time.) Eventually, the time came for B to get on her bus; I was sorry to see her go.

My flatmates apparently felt the same. Everyone has said at least once that they wish she’d stayed longer. Or, in the terminology of my flatmates, “We should have kidnapped her and forced her to stay.” So, basically, you’re welcome back any time, B. Thanks for coming!

As a final note, the pictures I took during B’s visit (including photos of my flatmates) have been posted.

B’s Visit Part Two

Published

Nicole

on 9/3/2005

in Journal and memorable

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Day Two

Jessica celebrates the new apartment Sunday was concerned entirely with moving, which is why we tried to hit the major sights on Saturday. Among innumerable trips between the north and south sides of campus, B and I had a few moments where we could just hang out and talk. Waiting for the moving company the university hired to bring a lot of our stuff left B and I sitting out on the front steps for quite awhile. It was a gorgeous day, though, and neither too hot nor too cold, so we didn’t mind much. We listened to Burn the Maps (from The Frames) for awhile, chatted about mutual friends, and freaked my friends out when they overheard the wrong parts of those conversations. It was brilliant.

B wearing my cloak Toward the end of the day, as we worked to get the last of the things from Southside to Northside, I received a comprehensive lesson in modern Irish history, particularly with respect to the conflict between the Republic and the North. Even with only that little bit of insight, I probably qualify now as one of them most knowledgeable Americans in existence on the topic. Frightening, but probably not too far from the truth.

The only way to follow up such a long and tiring day of moving was to head to Tommy’s for dinner. No one can pass up a milkshake after a day like that one! Dinner conversations were about a bizarre as could be expected given that the participants were my three flatmates (Mark, Jessica, and Eric), Brian, B, and myself. Still, it was a fun evening.

B’s Visit Part One

Published

Nicole

on 9/3/2005

in Journal and memorable

. 1 Comment

Not having posted about B’s visit (and many other topics by this point) makes me a bad blogger, I know. But life has been hectic enough recently that I’ve had a hard time living it, let alone blogging it. All the same, before things get too far away from me, I’m going to write some about the visit of my co-blogger B, known here as Bangladesh.

B and Gnome As I mentioned previously, B and I have been friends for about two-and-a-half years, but this was our first “real life” meeting. Mark, who is one of my flatmates, and I met her at the Cleveland Airport late Friday (August 19th) evening. Because Cleveland is stupid and doesn’t bother giving people a clear idea of which security gate people are coming out of, we nearly missed her. But, during one of my purposeful strides across the length of baggage claim, I happened to see her Ireland t-shirt and thereby caught her. We picked up her stuff and headed back to my temporary housing on the south side of campus, where I discovered that sleeping on tile floors really can be comfortable.

Day One

I woke up bright and early on Saturday morning, and, sadly, my sneaking-around-the-room skills have worsened since freshman year. With no one trying to sleep in the same room as you, you tend to get a little louder. I think B forgave me, though. We started with a trip to the grocery store to get some cereal that B could eat, and I pointed out some of the sights of the Cedar-Fairmount stretch of
Cleveland Heights. The day was already heating up, and the humidity was substantial.

After breakfast, we grabbed Mark and headed off on a grand campus tour. Walking from one end of my university campus to the other takes between 25 and 30 minutes without stopping, and I’m guessing we spent about an hour-and-a-half walking her all over the place. We paid particular attention to spots where we frequently hang out, like the biorobotics lab in Glennan and Nord atrium. And, naturally, I demonstrated my obsession with the automatic moving bookshelves in the library. I never cease to be entertained by those.

The real thrill was probably that the “No trespassing” signs had been removed from the new “Village at 115″, where Mark and I were scheduled to move the next day. Throughout construction, the policy was that students found trespassing onto the construction site would be immediately expelled. And, since I lived on the opposite side of campus for the past two years, I really hadn’t seen the
place at all. The buildings are gorgeous, and, as one professor put it, “palatial” in comparison to what we’ve had. There will be more on those (including pictures, I hope) later.

Rain was just beginning to fall when we reached the University Circle Rapid station, and, by the time we made it to the platform, there was a pretty good rainstorm going. Excellent timing on our part. Lunch was enjoyed at the Panara Bread inside Tower City, and the rain let up long enough for us to walk to the waterfront to see the Great Lakes Science Center and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame The real reason for going to see the science center this time was the Body Worlds 2 exhibit there. Logan posted a couple of weeks ago on his visit to Body Worlds in Chicago, and I definitely had that on my mind as we went through the exhibit. Firstly, I should note that Body Worlds 2 was packed that day because it was the weekend. There were lots of families with kids there, and, in some cases, I had to ask myself what these people were doing there. One poor toddler, in particular, was just squalling the whole time, and I can’t blame him. I really don’t think the kid was old enough to be anything but scared by the exhibit.

Body Worlds 2 Secondly, B is a 6th year Irish med student. So going through the exhibit with her was like having my own personal guide. It was pretty entertaining, actually, because she’d be discussing all the medical aspects of the bodies and body parts on display while I was analyzing the mechanics and design of it all. We made quite the pair, and I don’t doubt that we frightened a few people.

Although I found the exhibit fascinating and informative, one moment gave me pause. Toward the end, they had a specimen that was more or less a thickly sliced plastinate meant to show how everything fits together inside the body. On a couple of the slices, though, you could see the man’s face with skin and hair just the way you might see a relative as they lay in their coffin. That was disconcerting for me. The section with the fetuses was also uncomfortable. I understand that they died before birth of natural causes, but seeing them so tiny
and perfectly preserved…

At one point, a woman nearby remarked to the woman next to her that the human body was a miracle. I don’t think I left the exhibit with quite that impression. Yes, we are amazing beings. But, physically, there weren’t many differences between the human plastinates and those of other mammals. It’s hard to look at the muscles of a man and not think about how similar they look to the cut of beef I had the other day. Not that I’m advocating cannibalism or vegetarianism here, just observing.

I do think that I left with a new appreciation for the human body, though. It’s impossible for me to stretch now without envisioning what that looks like from the inside.

Once we’d finished our adventures in the Body Worlds 2 exhibit, B and I headed over to the Rock Hall where we spent a couple of years in the exhibits on the lower level. We got a lot sillier. For instance, listening to examples of early rock influences and influential rock songs of various decades were accompanied by much dancing in the aisles. We also spent a lot of time perusing interesting quotes from rock figures, several of which B wrote down in her notebook. (Care to post some of them, B?) My favorite parts, I think, were admiring some of Jimi Hendrix’s childhood drawings and checking out John Lennon’s hand-drawn comics from his schooldays. John’s report cards also had some choice criticisms from his teachers that left us laughing. It’s odd to imagine having my report cards displayed for random people to read someday. There are definitely some funny notes on them, though!

Once we made it back to campus, the three of us went to Aladdin’s for dinner and smoothies. As promised, we hit La Gelateria afterwards with Brian. I had cinnamon and pistachio (alas, no coconut!) and B tried chocolate and hazelnut, if I’m not mistaken. Brian was on a real roll that night and had us in stitches. The night was topped off with a late showing of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory at B’s request. I enjoyed the movie even more the second time around, and I think it may well be beating out my devotion to the original (although the song “Pure Imagination” will always be a favorite).

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