This morning, I got tired of being sick and scheduled an appointment with the Student Health Services. The moment I arrived at the clinic, I felt suddenly better. The placebo effect most certainly. The doctor told me that I didn\’t have a bacterial infection as I had suspected but just a bad virus that was going around campus. She gave me a bag of medications, which surprised me because I never got such bags during appointments. In it, she had given me a bottle of cough syrup, several tablets of ibprofren, bottle of generic sudafed, and a small handful of cough drops. She led me to the front counter…where my entire appointment was only $16. Only sixteen dollars?! And this was before any insurance stuff came into play. I wonder though if my tuition came into supporting the health services and lowered the cost of such fees.

So CHI (a conference for human computer interaction community) is coming up. It\’s taking place in Portland, Oregon. CMU usually sends all the masters students to CHI, paid for of course. I am wondering if I go…whether I should stop by the bay area (to see people and to see my parents) before heading up to Oregon or whether to go straight to Oregon from Pittsburgh. To me, is it really worth it to stop by the bay area…it would be about $91 more than if I flew to portland directly.

During winter break, I found that I really enjoyed being in my room in Lafayette. It\’s much bigger than the room I have in Pittsburgh. And it just had that feeling of comfort. Namely, my bed in Lafayette \”sinks\” unlike the firm-type mattress I have here. Plus, I have a full-length mirrors on my closet doors. Not a great place to do work though.

So just a thought, is it bad etiquette to answer your cell during a meeting (whisper into it that you\’re in a meeting) or answer ims when you\’re projecting your computer to the screen?

I have always wondered because I noticed this behavior recently. Do people my age have that many responsibilities to be always in touch with people? Just in case of emergency?

I asked why once and he said that it was because these people that contact him may not know he is busy. Ok, so can\’t they assume he\’s busy when they see an away msg or get the voicemail? Maybe this is why there is research being done on location-based instant messaging. This allows for passive communication, more like a pinging that doesn\’t require effort from one side. One person can determine where the other is located. Or better yet, why not have one of those ambient displays where you can tell that someone is alive because HEY YOUR RING IS GLOWING IN BLUE…

Ok, maybe that didn\’t make sense. But I took a nyquil 2 hours ago and I am drooping over my laptop, nodding my head downwards, ooooooh pretty colors….

OMGLOLROFLBBQ, I am going to sleep before MIDNIGHT. :D

\”We are not made up, as we have always supposed, of succeesssively enriched packets of our own parts. We are shared, rented, occupied…without the mitochondira, we would not move a muscle, drum a finger, think a thought.\”

Said Dr. Lewis Thomas on the back of this really AWD-tasting EMER\’GEN-C fizzy vitamin c drink that my housemate Carol gave me.

I asked my professor for my IID class for an extension to our project due on Wednesday. Not to my surprise, she basically denied it, saying that I should turn in whatever I had. This sort of reflects the lack of student-centered practices at schools. Who heard of sick days at school? If I need to take a day off, I don\’t have to call in (low responsibility is great, right), but I will miss hours of lectures, discussions, meetings etc. Students are not allowed to get sick (except on weekends). Despite some recommendations in the University health brocheres (go home and rest when you\’re sick!), we are often encouraged to go to class bringing along a 5 feet infectious radius of virii and bacteria. Over the years, I counteracted this unspoken agreement by having my own optimistic view. I will complete mind-wrecking labs with a 102 degree fever. I will attend lecture with a dry hacking cough even though nobody can hear the speaker any longer. I will go to campus and spread my disease so that everyone will be infected and I will ride up the curve! BWAHAHAHAHA.

Ok, enough of my optimism. Looks like procrastination doesn\’t really go away when I am sick either.

GRRRR GAAAAH! So I guess the week has accumulated to its peak now. I got sick again! Again. AGAIN!

EDIT: 8:25 pm – took ibuprofen. \”illegal\” dosage of 600 mg. passed out in bed. feverish dreams abound.

EDIT: 9:30 pm – must…must…do work. fever now 101.5. feel cold even though it\’s 70+ degrees in my room.

EDIT: 10:01 pm – send e-mail to interface and interaction design instructor to request for an extension for project due on Wednesday

EDIT: 12:55 am – did work. fever now only 99. don\’t feel like there is a clamp around my head. productive mucusy cough starts. think have talked too much about being sick to people. think also to spread around the disease. feel hot. think about stripping.

EDIT: 1:17 am – flash crashes on me. i am mad, but it\’s not because my \”flu\” has made me delirious. if only flash could read my mind. flashy flash.

I am weak. I admit it. Today, I went with a group member to this lumber salvage called Construction Junction to get building supplies for our Home 2020 project. In the class, we\’re creating anything that will demonstrate the home of the future, namely my group (3 of which are from computatonal design is creating a springy kid\’s room where the floor will interact with the walls. So we were supposed to get 2x6s to create the 6 foot cube. After that adventure of choosing pieces of salvage lumber from a huge pile outside, loading and unloading, I swear…my muscles ached. I got one splinter on the pinky of my left hand. And I could barely put my hands up to put my hair in a ponytail. We ended up getting 2x10s…sticking out of my groupmate\’s car. When I was helping him unload, I could barely lift a piece.

I hate being a stereotype. Unfortunately I am the female stereotype of strength. I don\’t like standing around helplessly, yet my lending of a hand is only enough to carry a piece of cardboard.

Speaking of which, I present the SIXTY-NINE chair (this shows only one piece). We created this last week for our cardboard furniture project. Basically we glued A LOT of pieces of cardboard together and cut them on the bandsaw to create chairs.

An old boyfriend once told me, \”Great minds discuss ideas. Average minds discuss events. Small minds discuss people.\”

But we all know I am a hypocrite. It\’s easier to talk about people with others. In fact, one of the easiest conversation topics is about someone you know. When you are meeting someone for the first time, talking about someone that you both know mutually is the quickest way to bond. And yet, it is true. Great minds discuss ideas. No wonder, the second BOYFRIEND could only last 3 days.

Alex taught me how to row yesterday.

Today, I went bowling. Dropped the ball twice. Got approximately 3 strikes and 4 spares. And at least 15 gutter balls. In two games. I rock.

So apparently if you search for \”carnegie mellon\” in google images, there\’s a nice surprising result.

Woould this show to prospective students that CMU really has normal people? Or maybe vice versa? That CMU is one scary place?

Everytime I laugh, I feel like I am laughing like SYNDROME from the Incredibles. Maybe it\’s because when I do laugh, it\’s TOO LOUD. Most of the time, I do my silent laugh. That\’s right, sometimes you don\’t know if I am laughing at you or not.

Yesterday, I said for the first time ever, I am too tired to blog.