Saturday night. There's 2 big Halloween things going in Hanover; I'm going to neither. Instead, at 10:30, I'm in my office doing work. This term is beginning to be such a grind. My whiteboard has a whole list of things I "need" to get done this weeked. So far, I've checked off three, but one doesn't count, 'cause it turns out I don't need to do it.

Halloween is too easy to take off of when there's a ton of work pressure -- I have neither the time for the party nor the time to make a good costume.

I did manage to go to the gym today and get coffee with a friend(ster) The conversation was good and platonic and might be worth repeating. Running was also good -- 2.7 miles, and it wasn't hard. At the beginning of the semester, 1.7 miles was a challenge. So I got that going for me (which is nice) Really, I am relieved to know that I can slack off running for a bit, and won't have to start all over on the mileage.

Three paragraphs, and I've consulted dictionary.com twice. Thanks Downingtown High School!

so, who's going to be in New York or Philadelphia for Thanksgiving? Ron and Suzy are going to L.A. to see my brother and future niece/nephew, and it would be nice to not have to stay in Hanover.

Its snowing in Hanover.

I don't really have time to write much else. I expect the snow to be beautiful, and I'll certainly have the time to watch it, since I'll be at work. all. day. long.

I've put myself on academic probation until I get ontop of the required schoolwork. This means not going to any Haloween stuff.

and no more writing on blogger for a bit.

I spent hours and hours on this talk I gave for Artificial Intelligence class today. It went well. It would be nice to think that this means everything academic and everything I work on will work out ok, but it doesnt mean I dont have to work at it.

Deadlines seem small and far away for now, excepting the Architecture midterm. This means my schedule will only be full, as opposed to crazy full.

I want to make sure I balance the school stuff with hanging out. Honestly, the people in North Park, most of them aren't tribe. There aren't that many people here, but going out is important. I'm not sure how to find that balance, except to spend time and effort.

I might start to really not write so much for the rest of the term. Things are going, but man, there's so much work to do.

I spent the weekend doing fun stuff, in the Hanover sense of fun. Friday drinks at the dept turned into Friday dinner at the Japanese place in West Lebanon. Saturday I went with Anne and Nic to the fashion show, which was put on by the owner of a vintage clothing place and was for the benefit of a soon-to-be coffee shop run by high school kids. Sunday I went hiking with Mala before studying.

I'm going to Boston this weekend for the day. 'probably shouldn't, but I will.

and next year, I'm going to be in a wedding. The only non-family people in the wedding are me and my ex-girlfriend. Time should make it not awkward. or at least less awkward.

That is all.

I should be in bed now, but I'm staying up late to watch Mariano finish off those Angels.

This week is going to be super tight, timewise. By this week, I mean this month. yikes.

ok. Mariano is done. and so am I.

nice things about graduate school

Some nice things about living in Hanover/going to grad school:

Dartmouth gives out free papers M-F. You can get the NYTimes, USAToday, and the Boston Globe. all for free.

I just got $300 in free software for my laptop. I need MSOffice for a class, and Dartmouth has the CD and licenses.

Dartmouth gave me my first paycheck on Friday. Getting paid to go to school -- it doesn't suck.

I'm tired of feeling sick.

politeness

I've been sick the past couple of days, and have spent most of today self-medicating with sleep and college football.

Last night's poker session and this girl's post has me pondering politeness.

Vibhor made the quorom of four for poker night, but ended up just not showing. It wasn't a big deal at all. The game still happened, and it was fun etc. etc. The only thing was, if you're not going to show up, just call, right?

So, yeah, grits' post got me to thinking about things that are polite. Is the change-of-plans call just being polite, or is that more than you should expect from people? Maybe its both. What do you think, readers?