Finals Are Done.

Finals are over. It is now time to sit in front of the television and eat cheetos until something more productive falls in my lap.

A Quote and A Clip

It's finals week. That means I have no life. So here's a motivational quote.

We began with the steam engine... Nature reflects the steam engine, but in a much more elaborate way... We are the children of chaos, and the deep structure of change is decay. At root there is only corruption, and the unstemmable tide of chaos. Gone is purpose; all there is left is direction. This is the bleakness we have to accept as we peer deeply and dispassionately into the heart of the Universe. Yet when we look around and see beauty, when we look within and experience conciousness, and when we participate in the delights of life, we know in our hearts that the heart of the Universe is richer by far. But that is sentiment, and is not what we should know in our minds. Science and the steam engine have a greater nobility. Together they reveal the awesome grandeur of the simplicity of complexity.

~Peter Atkins, The Second Law (1994)

And an unrelated clip, very funny of the Governator.

Learning LaTeX

It's pretty fascinating that I have managed to survive four years of being a physical science major; yet I never learned LaTeX very well.

Now I must learn because I want to use this cool tool to post formulas quickly and easily on blogger. I know LaTeX isn't hard, but I don't think I'll master it until after finals.

The following is just a test of my LaTeX skills. It is the principal equation of the kink-based path integral formulation, and thus is the central equation of my senior thesis.

Q = \int \left(x_0+\frac{\Gamma_0}{1-\Gamma_1}\right)^P dR^N

w00t for being successful! Now to tackle introducing the path integral formulation of quantum mechanics.

Finishing Up My Thesis

I'm finishing polishing my thesis (which is due by 4:30pm today), and I feel like this image empowers me.



Now where can I get a kitty who is good with theoretical chemistry and chemical physics? I want one! Now!

Checklists Help Maintain Sanity

Or so I hear. Thus, I will use this space to keep me on track of things this week and next.

Motivational thinking: It's almost over...and then it's Illinois! w00t w00t!

Now I completely understand why it is called "dead week".

• Finish up synthesis lab reports (due ASAP!!!)
• Make and give analytical presentation (due April 29th)
• Make and give statistical mechanics presentation (due April 30th)
• Write formal report for analytical project (due May 1st)
• Make corrections on senior thesis (due May 1st)
• Complete digital portfolio for communication certification (due May 2nd)
• Write formal report for synthesis project (due May 5th)
• Write formal report for statistical mechanics project (due May 7th)
• Write formal report for special topics in physics (due ???)

Facebook Has a New Chat Feature

Facebook has a new chat feature that allows you to IM your friends who are online.

Like I needed any more distractions this semester?

PhD Comics Sums Up My Life

I don't know how many times my professor has walked in on me dinking around on the internet after I had submitted a job to the supercomputer or did a happy dance for a working algorithm. So, I enjoyed this PhD comic much: