In case you didn't already see greg's or alan's writeup, here i am to report on our success solving the Königs-Pittsburgh Bridge Problem last saturday.

The idea is that while the original problem is not solvable, pittsburgh's variant is, and it turns out to be a 35-mile hike. The rules are that you must cross every bridge with at least one ( Read more... )

A little after I got into running long distances, I started wanting a giant map of pittsburgh, the sort you could hang on your wall and put thumbtacks with string attached into.

As a second-best, openstreetmap has this great mode where you can export sections of maps in huge resolution. I made one of pittsburgh (15MB - smaller version 5 MB) (and ( Read more... )

today we witnessed the transit of venus across the sun. considering its rarity and history, I personally thought it was a much cooler event than the eclipse, if a bit less aesthetically impressive ( Read more... )

sitting in 9115, which is quite possibly by now my favourite place on campus (it's a conference room in the top corner of gates that has a view of 10 or more pittsburgh neighbourhoods), is a good time for being reflective about this city ( Read more... )

i was in philadelphia this weekend! most of the time i was eating or sleeping or walking around, but i spent a little more than four hours running also.


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my world is changing in a way i don't have a way to describe besides to say that i'm collecting extra colours in which i see it. during moments of joy, and of sadness too, there are new layers in my emotional model for me to explore, some sort of meta-pride in myself. even something as simple as taking my regular seat on the bus, where i always sit ( Read more... )

so for 799 we have to read and review three papers a week, and also rotate through presenting on them, which ends up being once every other week, since there are only six people in the class. the review format is a summary, three items of praise, and three items of criticism. i'm finding it both difficult and grueling ( Read more... )

okay, I now have the ability to immortalise my daily experiences.

(already I'm battling myself over what's "worth" taking pictures of. good job, self.)

I created cslunch for anybody who's interested in food (and I will probably take actual food discussion there, too, in addition to just pictures), and will indiscriminately post other interesting things ( Read more... )

the everything-is-wrong / nothing-is-wrong wave appears to be becoming pretty standard. good food has been the only invariant, an island in stormy seas. (i'm wary of it turning into a depressive indulgence - specifically, treating myself at restaurants - but that worry doesn't stand when i get around to cooking for myself.) another recipe may be ( Read more... )

prevailing mood the last few days: persistent sadness punctuated by strong moments of encouragement and comfort. apartment hunting, huge chore that it is, is unavoidably depressing. i keep repeatedly putting my heart into opportunities knowing it's likely to get squashed (going after a place yesterday, the dude called me an hour before the ( Read more... )