In Which Some Things Get Started
October 31, 2014
Thursday was notable in that I had a large amount of work that wasn’t even started and that day I had a chance to make a little progress on a large number of things. New crypto homework (exploiting Bleichenbacher’s RSA signature forgery exploit), new machine learning homework (implementing state vector machines and perceptrons), a research proposal and, study for the every terrifying algorithms midterm on Monday (courtesy of Sudipto Guha).
I left a little time to practice piano and an hour for ‘lattice club’, the latter being a difficult seminar with Nadia and a few of her minions that involved relatively difficult number theory and abstract algebra. Too much of it went over my head.
I went briefly to a graduate engineering happy hour, before heading back to Hillel for dinner. Following dinner I attempted to work a little more, getting distracted, and so I filled some needed tasks. After picking up my mail and a package for Pearl’s birthday, I was off to the Glouse for a game of Settlers. Mostly tech members were present and it was a great chance to get to know them better (Ariana does physics!). A little later in the evening Lainie from Penn Dance popped by, but we were unable to draw any more from the pool of dancers due to many varied commitments on their part.
Home at about midnight, I was just about to go to sleep when a message from Pearl arrived informing me that she was back from her date night and that I could see her briefly to drop off her present and talk for a few minutes. Stayed up later than expected and sleep was welcome when it finally came.
In Which I Am In A Professional Play
October 20, 2014
One of the highlights of semester thus far was this week’s rehearsals for “The Events”. A play being put on at the Annenberg Center for Performing Arts. We weren’t told in advance the contents of the play, other than that it revolved around a choirmaster dealing with the aftermath of a mass shooting. We were to play the part of the choir on opening night and sing the backing music for the show.
I really enjoyed learning the music, some of it was really beautiful and also featured a strong baritone line.
The week also featured two midterms that I studied for on Sunday before the play and rehearsals on Monday and Tuesday night.
The play itself on Tuesday night was really enjoyable and interesting, touching on themes of guilty, forgiveness and trauma. It involved the choir in really interesting ways and I think even had I not been a part of it I really would’ve enjoyed going to see it!