Sad, then Happy
Well, the memorial was as one might expect, especially given the circumstances of her death. I think everyone was pretty teary, but I didn't hear any loud sobs. I (stupidly) didn't bring any tissues, so I spent the whole time wiping my eyes. The surprise of the day was when burping-guy stood up and said the most moving thing. I'll try to recount it, but it might not come across as well if you don't know her.
He started off by saying that we computer scientists work in a pretty grey place. Our cubicles are grey, the computers are grey, and sometimes the work is pretty grey too. Then he told this story about how one time Ming made a whole lot of origami birds and put them all over the office. A lot of them. Like, he says, we still find them in the corners sometimes. He said some other stuff, but then he ended with, "The world is a much grayer place without her." *sob* I know that's a really melodramatic line, but it kind of hit hard. But all is good. It was great to see so many people show up for the service. I was really nervous that not that many people would show up, but the place was packed -- people were even standing in the back. But in some ways this makes the situation even sadder because it seemed like she really did touch a lot of people's lives based on the number of people who got up and said stuff. :-(
Anyway, after the service, I hung out with a few friends. The guy that I did an independent study with last year and I have decided to take it upon ourselves to read a book on Godel's Proof together. We really like studying together and we haven't for a while since we're not in the same classes. It should be a lot of fun! OK, so we're nerds, but it feels kind of exciting to do something academic independent of credits or even professors. Alright, well, I do plan to have an "incidental" meeting with him outside a particular professor's office just to show him we can learn stuff without him. :-P
Alright, American Idol is starting. Go red headed kid!
He started off by saying that we computer scientists work in a pretty grey place. Our cubicles are grey, the computers are grey, and sometimes the work is pretty grey too. Then he told this story about how one time Ming made a whole lot of origami birds and put them all over the office. A lot of them. Like, he says, we still find them in the corners sometimes. He said some other stuff, but then he ended with, "The world is a much grayer place without her." *sob* I know that's a really melodramatic line, but it kind of hit hard. But all is good. It was great to see so many people show up for the service. I was really nervous that not that many people would show up, but the place was packed -- people were even standing in the back. But in some ways this makes the situation even sadder because it seemed like she really did touch a lot of people's lives based on the number of people who got up and said stuff. :-(
Anyway, after the service, I hung out with a few friends. The guy that I did an independent study with last year and I have decided to take it upon ourselves to read a book on Godel's Proof together. We really like studying together and we haven't for a while since we're not in the same classes. It should be a lot of fun! OK, so we're nerds, but it feels kind of exciting to do something academic independent of credits or even professors. Alright, well, I do plan to have an "incidental" meeting with him outside a particular professor's office just to show him we can learn stuff without him. :-P
Alright, American Idol is starting. Go red headed kid!