Monthly Archives: September 2010

I will give you lots of homework so you won’t miss home as much.

A. Elkamel

The great thing about being a chemical engineer is that whenever anyone asks me questions about chemistry I can say “I don’t know, I’m an engineer” and if anyone asks me about engineering I can say “I don’t know, I do chemistry.

Dr. Dale E. Henneke
Link

Iron Warrior >> Lore of the Lumberjack

“Good Morning Sexy Readers!

It’s another sexy term, a brand new year, and for some of our fantastic new first-years, a whole new life awaits! Greetings and welcome to the school filled with the sexiest people alive. I am Chad Sexington, haunt of the satire and randomosity page. Pourer of maple-flavored wisdom and lumberjack lore, many of you will stop reading now, but wait, for within these words is contained the knowledge of years collected by manly lumberjacks since the dawn of time itself.  Everyone knows that it isn’t easy coming to a new city, let alone a new school. Things you once knew are gone, lost in the pile of “back home I had ___ and knew ___” nostalgia that everyone keeps locked in their closet of memories.  But fear not,  it is a tough time starting from scratch, and many of you may think that you are at level 0 of a social support structure, but soon you will realize just how rich you are. For to think you are defeated is to make it so.  And now, in the style of my usual old-timey man ramblings, allow me to dispense what the satire column usually holds for you during the frosh issue of the IW: my version of what I wish I had known when I arrived here. So without further adieu, I present: Chad Sexingtons Seven Simple Suggestions for Starting School.

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4)      Study in a way that works for you. You’re going to meet all kinds of people here, and some of those people are like the savant’s of lore, who can read something once and recall it indefinitely. They understand everything the first time, and have no need to spend hours in the library practicing questions and memorizing things.  Chances are, you are not this person.  Study and learn in a way that works for you. Ask for help. If you learn better by reading the notes, do it. If you learn best by listening to your prof, get someone to take notes for you (buying them coffee can help). Get a support group. Most assignments are impossible to do by yourself, so a study-buddy or 5 is one of the best investments you can make to save yourself from banging your head on the desk.

5)      This isn’t High School. You are not a special unique flower. Self motivation is the skill that causes more people to fail than any other. People can preach this until they’re blue in the face and say it until they sound like a tree chipper grinding up a tough spruce, but some of you are never going to learn until you learn the hard way.   You can’t study for 15 minutes and expect to pass. You can’t hand things in whenever you feel like it.  You can’t wait for someone to remind you to read your notes. Nobody is going to get on your ass to do your homework. You’re going to need to learn to grow up and motivate yourself quick, or you’re going to get left behind and nobody is going to save you, because as much as Engineering is a family, it’s also a cutthroat competition. Everyone else that is here had to pass the same entry requirements as you, so they’re at least as competent, if not more so that you are.

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Remember not to panic, and..

Until next time,

Stay Sexy.”

(I had to resist copy and pasting the whole article in, this is seriously brilliant and funny, click the link)

As I mentioned before, costume party.

POETS (Piss On Everything Tomorrow’s Saturday) is the Engineering Lounge at my school. Basically the beginning of term party was themed failed superheroes and supervillians. I dressed up as “something to do with stars!” (People kept asking me what I was and that was my standard reply, so I guess it’s my name now, SOMETHING about my costume had to be fail!) Before I left res I packed my pockets with gold star stickers which I both stealthily and not so stealthily stuck on to people ALL NIGHT! My friends, Keith and Sean, ended up with quite a few. I actually ended up triple starring at least one person, and double starring quite a few. This is a fun activity though, I seriously recommend going around with stickers and giving them to strangers. People’s reactions vary but at this event people were pretty friendly and I received a good number of ‘thank yous’ and smiles. It’s a good icebreaker too. In general I was pretty thrilled about the whole idea.

P.S. Woo Nanotech! Way to represent last night!

P.S.S. I stickered at least THREE EdCom. 😀 😀 😀

P.S.S.S. I want to get involved in EngSoc now!

Words That Don’t Exist in the English Language

L’esprit de escalier: (French) The feeling you get after leaving a conversation, when you think of all the things you should have said. Translated it means “the spirit of the staircase.”

Waldeinsamkeit: (German) The feeling of being alone in the woods.

Meraki: (Greek) Doing something with soul, creativity, or love.

Forelsket: (Norwegian) The euphoria you experience when you are first falling in love.

Gheegle: (Filipino) The urge to pinch or squeeze something that is unbearably cute.

Pochemuchka: (Russian) A person who asks a lot of questions.

Pena ajena: (Mexican Spanish) The embarrassment you feel watching someone else’s humiliation.

Cualacino: (Italian) The mark left on a table by a cold glass.

Ilunga: (Tshiluba, Congo) A person who is ready to forgive any abuse for the first time, to tolerate it a second time, but never a third time.

I love the idea of other languages, I just don’t seem to have the skill or perseverance to actually learn any properly.

As a rule, cliche as this sounds, I try to live with no regrets. Take what you can from any experience, right? But I do go over conversations in my head and innerly groan – aka ‘L’esprit de escalier’ would be a useful one for me! (at least I have an inkling about French)

(via teenage-lobotomy, medsandfeds)

yesterday I went to a costume party and Dr. Horrible AND Captain Hammer were there. it kind of made my night. or was a contributing factor anyways.

Pshhh, last night was just good overall. But still, NPH FTW!

(via teenage-lobotomy, nicholasrobert)

Sometimes I feel like this is true. I used to think it was initiation that left you powerless more than anything, but that’s simply not true. It’s not about being first, it’s about going deepest. It’s about feelings that matter versus simple attraction. Sometimes I think we need more words for different types of love in this language of ours, but every time I change my mind. There are not so much categories as gradients of love, love for different purposes, love to meet different needs. I think we’d just end up confusing ourselves anyways.

Luckily, I’ve never been a fan of games.