2013

It's one of those years that's going to take some time to get used to, I think.  Unlike 2011 and 2012, which I was able to take more in stride, this year is already shaping up to be more like 2010 in that I just can't quite get my head around the fact that it's here.

Of course, I'll get over that feeling soon enough, but I think a big part of why I feel that way is that I spent so much of last year racing forward to what was next that it was over before I knew it.  At its outset, 2012 seemed to offer myriad possibilities.  That was certainly true, in a sense; in reality, though, my 2012 — not discounting all the personal and professional progress I've made — was primarily to set the groundwork for what is shaping up to be a great 2013!

And so, in continuing a long-standing tradition, I dust off the cobwebs on this blog for a second consecutive evening to present my doodle for 2013, which is interestingly the first year in my lifetime to have four different digits.  They don't take too long to create, but it's important to me, because I always take care to inject a small bit of both my general sense of self at the time as well as my hopes and dreams for the coming year — even if I'm rushed, and even if I never make those thoughts explicit here.  And I enjoy looking back at how those aspirations have developed; how many have been achieved while others remain unmet; and how, with another year's experience and the benefit of the hindsight it brings, I'm becoming a newer and better person week after week, year after year.

To be sure, I can't wait to do this again in another year... but in the meantime, I'll strive to enjoy 2013 to its fullest!

Onward

Well, here I am again.  I have no excuses for my silence here of late, but for once I don't think I actually need any.  As those who know me can attest, I've been pretty darn busy over the last several months.

But busy as it's been, 2012 has been a great year for me, I think.  After a year of postbaccalaureate classes, I was admitted in March into the master's program at Pitt's Department of Computer Science beginning in August.  As a result, I'm living much closer to campus now than I was in the spring and summer, within walking distance (which I've been keen to take advantage of).  I've also made a lot of good new friends this year, while staying connected with some old ones.

My first semester of graduate study was about as tough as I was expecting, but a few situations out of my control made for a bit of a bumpier semester than I'd hoped for.  Overall, though, I handled the situations pretty well and am glad to be moving forward from the experience.

Moving into the new year, I was asked a couple of weeks ago to be a part-time instructor for the department, teaching a course on Microsoft Office in the spring semester; I teach my first lecture a week from today, which is crazy.  So it's been a bit of a working holiday this year, getting a syllabus and plans together... but it's been a fun one with family nonetheless.

I would write more, but I've obviously been quite busy.  It should therefore be no surprise that I'm writing this in the last few minutes of the year, as always.  (Years may go by, but some things never change.)

Onward into 2013!

Random tangent: We're still watching Carson Daly's show for the ball drop tonight, but a certain cousin's affinity for Taylor Swift requires us to shift to Ryan Seacrest's show for a few moments.  Happy to see that Seacrest has finally gotten on board with "twenty-twelve" and "twenty-thirteen".

Seven

Dearest Bloggy, despite my continual neglect, is seven years old today.  Per tradition, the annual bloggy cake has been baked and is now present for all to enjoy.

And now, also per tradition, the filler:

Today's been a somewhat eventful day, I guess.  A Monday this year, Bloggy's seventh birthday started out with the geekiness that was the UNIX timestamp hitting 1337000000 seconds since the epoch this morning at 08:53:20 EDT.  Then I went to work (which is another something I haven't really mentioned here (I should update this more often (so says he again, yet he never does (should I close all these parentheses now?)))) and attended the first day of my summer classes, before heading home.

Meanwhile, my cousin Laurel (if it even makes sense to refer to her with that link anymore) spent all day driving to Chicago where she starts her new job tomorrow after having graduated from Michigan State University back on 5 May.  Pretty cool!

I really don't have much of an excuse anymore.  I recently rejiggered my schedule specifically to allow myself more opportunities for non-directly-school-related things, since that is a large part of how I stay sane.  But for now, instead, you have to put up with this tripe which I put off to the last possible minute (literally) and hastily "finish" before midnight.

Watch this space.

Horological Reflections

It's Leap Day again!  I haven't really had crazy Leap Day traditions along the lines of those in last week's episode of 30 Rock (#609), but blogging is, I suppose, something that I do on days such as these.  I did wear a bit of yellow and blue, though, today, so no one would poke me in the eye or pull my hair.

I feel as though I spoke too soon four years ago when I said that "even though 29 days is still shorter than any other month, it just seems like February is unnecessarily 'hanging around'" during leap years.  I didn't feel that way today.  There are a couple potential reasons for this.

One is purely personal: I'm not quite ready for it to be March yet.  Quite frankly, I wasn't ready for February to start 29 days ago, either, and I doubt I'll be ready for April when it comes around.  With the unparalleled velocity my endeavors this year have brought (which I still need to mention here; it's getting a bit old), there is always something to be doing, and even if I'm not actually behind, I still feel like I am.  I'm sure most busy people know this feeling; it's quite familiar to me.

The other reason is mathematical: Usually, months have 30 or 31 days, so when you're calculating a date across a month boundary, you're basically doing modular arithmetic, mod 30 or 31.  You know, a week after the 26th is either the 2nd or the 3rd if there were 31 or 30 days, respectively, in the month just ending.  After a while, you get used to this.  February's the odd case, with 28 days usually, but working ahead to March is usually easy because it generally looks the same; since 28 is divisible by 7, all of March's days line up with February's in most years.

But 29 days in February is the exception to the exception, and being one short of a nice, round number is just harder to get around than being one over it.  Unless, of course, there's something else at play.  I don't know if it's voodoo symmetry or what, but Wednesday, being right in the middle of the work week, just seems like a natural place to put Leap Day, much more so than the Friday we had in 2008 or Sunday in 2004.  For some reason, I've not had any trouble figuring my dates mod 29.  All seems right with the world.  (Which is good, because that's sort of the point, aligning the calendar with the cosmos and such.)

As I mentioned on Twitter last night, today "completes the set" of Leap Days for me.  Since being born eight weeks before Leap Day 1988, which was a Monday, I've now been alive for seven Leap Days, one on each day of the week.  And I've never had a friend to whom I could actually wish a happy birthday on 29 February until today!  (Happy sixth birthday, Chris!  Facebook says we've known each other since November 2008, so this has been a long time coming.)

Leap Day is like a gift, in a way.  I mean, yes, it's just another day that would otherwise be called something else... but it's special, darn it!  It's a built-in prompt for horological reflection that reminds us to make each day special, and to make good use of the precious time we have.

It is thus that I must digress and mention my atomic shower clock.  Although I often take long showers intentionally to "clear my head," sometimes you need to be in and out; other times, you don't have to be quick, but still don't want to dawdle.  Sometimes, then, it's easy to go into the shower with one mindset and then, regardless, suddenly forget all about time continuing to pass by (at least until the water starts getting cold).

While this suction-based waterproof contraption wasn't terribly cheap, it has certainly paid for itself already in saved time (read, "not accidentally wasted time"), including a few minutes this morning. I think that's worthwhile.

And all in all, today was a good, productive day.  I'm determined to have a great many more in the 1460 days between now and the next intercalation.

But now, as I am running out of time, I leave you with Le Chat Noir, édition bissextile 2012: