…Now what?
May. 16th, 2009 07:40 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
bironicThe end of the semester rushed in like the sidewalk when you've fallen off a building. Wham, and it's over. My family came up Thursday night and has already gone. They took most of my stuff with them; the apartment is empty. After more than a week of solid work, I've suddenly got nothing to do,* and it's quiet. I'm kind of exhausted, and now I'm also unexpectedly sad.
* Besides small stuff, anyway: shop for business casual clothes, get thesis printed on the proper paper and acquire its proper signatures, and sort through the massive pile of papers that's built up since September so I don't lug junk home.
Yesterday was wonderful, though. I had to give a presentation, and I kicked its butt. Then we went out to dinner and I had steak for the first time since my birthday last summer, made all the better not only for the time that lapsed between but because it was nice and rare. Some places these days will ask what level of doneness you want and then cook it medium-to-well-done anyway for safety reasons.
I did not start this post intending to write about the ideal state of filets. Rather, I was thinking about how this is my last week at MIT—out-of-town internship this summer, then graduation in the fall—and so I've been taking pictures to share here. Sort of the "day in the life" meme that goes around every so often, only more of a "week in the life," or three weeks, since I'm going to be in three cities before the end of the month. A week here, some pictures from NY, and then some from DC. Thought it might be fun, anyway.
Here's the first batch:
Why We Do Not Leave Our Potatoes Under The Sink Instead Of In The Crisper:
Sometimes, moving the laptop from the desk to the couch is enough to get me to focus on what I need to do instead of surfing the 'net all day.
Walking to class one morning. (With glove.)
My street.
I pass the nuclear reactor every day.
Its street entrance is understandably subtle.
Two signs on a street-level window in a lab:
One view of MIT's wackiest building.
In front of it.
Main entrance to the biggest building on campus and the start of what's known as the Infinite Corridor.
Sometimes I walk through the courtyard instead of down the whole long hallway.
This is a short stub off the long hallway.
Through the math department.
Past a mural near the humanities wing.
Many late nights this week in the computer lab.
At least there were flowers along the way home.
And more flowers when I got back to my apartment, from my dad and his girlfriend.
Despite having walked down this street every week all semester, I didn't see this sign until yesterday.
A park on the way to the supermarket.
Elevator at the supermarket.
And finally, my thesis advisor gave this to me yesterday. I love it.
* Besides small stuff, anyway: shop for business casual clothes, get thesis printed on the proper paper and acquire its proper signatures, and sort through the massive pile of papers that's built up since September so I don't lug junk home.
Yesterday was wonderful, though. I had to give a presentation, and I kicked its butt. Then we went out to dinner and I had steak for the first time since my birthday last summer, made all the better not only for the time that lapsed between but because it was nice and rare. Some places these days will ask what level of doneness you want and then cook it medium-to-well-done anyway for safety reasons.
I did not start this post intending to write about the ideal state of filets. Rather, I was thinking about how this is my last week at MIT—out-of-town internship this summer, then graduation in the fall—and so I've been taking pictures to share here. Sort of the "day in the life" meme that goes around every so often, only more of a "week in the life," or three weeks, since I'm going to be in three cities before the end of the month. A week here, some pictures from NY, and then some from DC. Thought it might be fun, anyway.
Here's the first batch:
Why We Do Not Leave Our Potatoes Under The Sink Instead Of In The Crisper:
Sometimes, moving the laptop from the desk to the couch is enough to get me to focus on what I need to do instead of surfing the 'net all day.
Walking to class one morning. (With glove.)
My street.
I pass the nuclear reactor every day.
Its street entrance is understandably subtle.
Two signs on a street-level window in a lab:
One view of MIT's wackiest building.
In front of it.
Main entrance to the biggest building on campus and the start of what's known as the Infinite Corridor.
Sometimes I walk through the courtyard instead of down the whole long hallway.
This is a short stub off the long hallway.
Through the math department.
Past a mural near the humanities wing.
Many late nights this week in the computer lab.
At least there were flowers along the way home.
And more flowers when I got back to my apartment, from my dad and his girlfriend.
Despite having walked down this street every week all semester, I didn't see this sign until yesterday.
A park on the way to the supermarket.
Elevator at the supermarket.
And finally, my thesis advisor gave this to me yesterday. I love it.
no subject
Date: May. 17th, 2009 12:01 am (UTC)Yay for your presentation being awesome. And for steak, for that matter! I get how it can feel like "what next?" though. Man, all that effort towards one thing, and then the one thing's done. It takes adjusting. *hugs*
no subject
Date: May. 17th, 2009 12:12 am (UTC)Thanks!
no subject
Date: May. 17th, 2009 12:04 am (UTC)Congratulations on getting this far, and it's perfectly reasonable to be sad right now. You're off the work-drive and you've come to the end of a chapter... you're doing good, photographing memories while you can. :)
no subject
Date: May. 17th, 2009 12:19 am (UTC)You're off the work-drive and you've come to the end of a chapter...
Ya. Adrenalin draining, or something. Anyway, it should be nice to chill out for a while. Not too long, though, or I'll have to reacclimate when my job starts.
And thank you! :)
no subject
Date: May. 17th, 2009 12:06 am (UTC)no subject
Date: May. 17th, 2009 12:20 am (UTC)no subject
Date: May. 17th, 2009 01:09 am (UTC)I like the necklace too, ironic, since I've looking for something with DNA on it that I liked for you for a while now, I guess your professor beat me too it.
I love the real people sign : )
You Did it! And hopefully I'll get to say that in person soon.
no subject
Date: May. 17th, 2009 02:47 pm (UTC)I think I've been looking for DNA jewelry too, but I seem to remember only finding earrings?
no subject
Date: May. 17th, 2009 02:42 am (UTC)And the necklace is gorgeous. DNA FTW!
no subject
Date: May. 17th, 2009 02:47 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: May. 17th, 2009 03:50 am (UTC)no subject
Date: May. 17th, 2009 02:47 pm (UTC)I can't believe I can't hang out with you every week anymore, when it feels like we just met. :(
no subject
Date: May. 17th, 2009 06:51 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: May. 17th, 2009 04:15 am (UTC)The pictures are awesome. They really capture the quirkiness of MIT. The necklace is beautiful and very appropriate. It's the kind of jewelry I'd wear, and I'm not much of a jewelry person.
As for what to do next, I can think of a few things: reading, writing fanfic, sleeping, playing Lexulous...
no subject
Date: May. 17th, 2009 02:49 pm (UTC)Maybe I will finally finish the tsamiko story!
And yay, I'm glad you like the pictures. Nothing of Lobdell (where they had a campus-wide flapjack-and-eggs breakfast this morning except I slept through it) but I'm happy you enjoyed them anyway. :)
no subject
Date: May. 17th, 2009 04:32 am (UTC)And pictures--double-yay! (Although I totally know what you mean by the 'what's next' feeling...)
no subject
Date: May. 17th, 2009 02:50 pm (UTC)a) Go to a farewell class party at a bar across the river
b) Sleep until 10:30
c) Fetch car from sketchy lot to make sure it isn't stolen today
So far so good, eh? Though what will we do now that we can't bond over shared progress bar posts?