After visiting CMU, I am somewhat relieved that the grad students in my program aren\’t that crazy. For some reason, I had gotten the feeling that they would all be HCI-hardcore. And considering how little I talk about HCI (beyond my desire of FOAFness aka the need to stalk people), I felt somewhat guilty that I wasn\’t as insane about HCI as I should be.

I had planned to do all my thank yous when I finally got a new layout up (ideas: DRAMAH QUEEN layout, generic GRAY layout, kiddy-themed layout, layout based on \”pretty\” pictures I have taken earlier), but that doesn\’t seem to be too soon.

When I first started applying to grad programs, I googled everything. I got inspired by people who were applying. In particular, metamanda.com (who decided to go to UCI), snowedin.net (who decided to go to Indiana – I decided not to go to this program), dorkyspice.com (who decided to go to UMich – I decided not to go to the same school as my cousin) Yes, these people don\’t know who I am.

And of course, I would have to thank Kevin Fox, the most \”famous\” cmu grad. And the only person I know who was (like me) an undergrad cogsci major at Berkeley and CMU mhci! :) Also not to mention Micah.

So thanks to everyone who showed me around (or attempted to show me around) last weekend. That includes Marina, Patrick, Sandi, Gahgene, Belinda, Jenna, Professor Alice Chen, and the creepy guy Warren!

When I told someone at work today about my incident at Pittsburgh, he observed \”Jenn, do you wear a sign that says \’gullible\’ on your forehead?\”