Life After Grad School

… strawberry shortcake. Or chocolate mint.

I’ve been biking to work. The distance is a measly two miles, so not really a great workout, but not only am I twice as fast as if I were taking the T, I also enjoy pleasant scents along the way. Right outside my door I cycle past a candy factory. I still don’t know what product is made there, but it spreads a wonderful and irresistible aroma of chocolate mint and strawberry shortcake. Please don’t tell me what they make, I’m pretty sure I’d rather live in ignorant bliss on this one.

On the other side of the river I ride down Charles Street and then cross the Boston Common, where the smell of freshly cut grass reminds even the busiest of us that it is in fact summer.

I know I have a pretty good commute by any standard, but who else can claim that their commute smells good as well?!

Bet you didn’t think there could possibly a logical connection. Well, neither did I. But in a filing to the FCC to support strict regulation of the Internet NBC states: “For example, in the absence of movie piracy, video retailers would sell and rent more titles. Movie theatres would sell more tickets and popcorn. Corn growers would earn greater profits and buy more farm equipment”.

Grabbing at straws, are we? More on that here.

Yes, the death of 32 students and faculty at Virginia Tech on Monday is tragic and has touched us all, but does it really warrant the extensive, obsessive media coverage? Let’s face it, while it affects hundreds of people’s lives, the university shooting does not have any relevance on the national or international level. It seemed preventable, but only with 20/20 hindsight, and may point towards some ills in our society, but it was a freak incident executed by one disturbed person. While we’re obsessing over the details of this event, every day more soldiers and civilians die in the Iraq war. These aren’t people who died because of a random shooting. These are people who die because they were ordered to fight a senseless war. Where is the national day of mourning for the fallen soldiers and innocent bystanders? Oh, that’s right, we’d have to declare every day a day of mourning …

To put things into perspective:

• Deaths from Virginia Tech shooting: 32
• Americans died in Iraq war (as of 4/19/07): 3,315
• Iraqi deaths (estimated): 62,000 - 68,000

Enough said.

indecision
: a wavering between two or more possible courses of action

I am frequently plagued by bouts of indecision. Sometimes it’s driving me crazy, other times it’s just funny. And it’s the little things that get me. Like last night. I left work a little after 5pm and went to the MIT student center to read a few more chapters of the book that’s been hogging all my attention these days. I read for an hour until it was time for swim practice and then … decided that I’d really rather go home than plunge into a cold pool. So, I packed up, walked over to the bus stop, stood there in the cold for what seemed like an eternity, no bus came. At this point it occurred to me that I was being ridiculous and, since I was already there with no ride home approaching, I might as well go to practice. Which I did and very much enjoyed. Could one possibly be less decisive?

Today it’s so cold in Boston that moving to Alaska sounds like a fabulous idea:

Boston: low temperature: 3 degrees
Fairbanks: low temperature: 11 degrees

Stay warm!