Thursday, January 31, 2008

5 Good Things About Being Back on Campus

1) Mandatory exercise: walking all over campus with a ton of books and climbing the 5 flights of stairs to my office multiple times every day.



2) Sandwiches that are <$3 are available at the Coop.  Where else in this area can you buy lunch for $2.85???



3) Warping impressionable young minds...definite bonus.



4) One word...paycheck.



5) There *must* be something good about chalk hand prints on your jeans after teaching three sections in a row.  Occupational hazard.



Wednesday, January 30, 2008

Things are sure different for kids these days

I have been feeling kinda old recently.  Starting back to school with all these 18 year olds around will do that.



I'm taking an undergrad calc class this semester because the prof in charge of my secondary field told me that I really should.  The jury is still out on whether this is a good thing or a waste of time, but hey, at least it means a slightly lighter courseload for me this semester.



Anyways, we have homework every week and we have to submit it online.  Of course, to access the website, you have to buy a brand spanking new $300 textbook with access code.  What ever happened to just turning in assignments to your TA?  Apparently this program will allow you to try to input the right answer 3 times...after that it gets marked wrong.  And then the TA doesn't even have to grade it since the program did it already...and they get sent a full grading history report on each student.



Sadly for us polisci TA's, all of our assignments that we have to grade are tests and papers...no fancy technology can help us out...though I do use excel to keep track of my students and their grades and we also do use Blackboard to get info to students.



When I was an undergrad things were still pretty low tech.  I can't ever remember turning in homework online.  We had email and I did design a few prof's websites, but that's about it.  We didn't even have facebook.



Boo...perhaps no ICPSR stats boot camp for me

So the official August comp date has been set - August 20-21.  By the end of this semester there will be no reason for me not to take my primary field comprehensive exam in August (plus, everyone else in my cohort will be taking it and it makes sense for us all to take it at the same time so we can study together and provide support for the pre/post comp freakouts).  To be honest, I am not all that worried about my primary field (American politics) comp.  Yes, I will have to study for it, but I already had to take a comp in the same topic for my MA and that comp was closed book for 7 hours in a computer lab.  Maryland's comps are 36 hours and open book (essentially "take-home").  I'm way more stressed about my Quant (secondary field) comp which I will take some time in 2009.



So, Ozan sent out the list of ICPSR classes a few days ago.  The first session (June 23-July 18) is rather disappointing.  Basically, I have already taken all of the classes offered in that session with the exception of a Bayesian class that I am uninterested in.  The second session runs from July 21-August 15... five days before the comp.  That's probably cutting it way too close, especially considering I will have to move back here from Michigan.  Sadly this is the session with all the classes I wanted to take: time series, matrix algebra, simultaneous equation models, LISREL/structural equation models, etc.  Boooooo.



I need to talk to Mike and Ozan to see what they think.  I can't imagine wanting to go to the second session considering it ends 5 days before one of the biggest hurdles in my graduate career.  I also can't imagine wanting to take the Bayesian class, but Ozan is a big Bayesian, so maybe he will convince me otherwise.  Mainstream American political science seems to be filled with frequentists rather than Bayesians.  The bad news is if I don't go to ICPSR this summer, it's really going to hold up my graduate career.  I need to get enough classes to finish my secondary field reqs and I need to take my secondary field comp sometime in 2009.



Tuesday, January 29, 2008

So much for my break...

I had decided to take a break from poker once school started.  I really actually believed I was taking this break...up until I saw the lineup for the Monday game.  Then not only could I not stay away, but I could not leave the game.  Someone exorcize me.



I was hanging around even for hours after winning lots of small/average pots (after being in for the equivilent of 2 buy-ins...topping off twice...yeah I have $500-$600, but I paid for all these chips)...then I ended up straddling to Aces (!), making a silly $69 pf re-raise (look on Kenny's face when he realized the amount I raised was priceless), and finally pulled ahead of even.  At some point in the wee hours of dawn I flopped a set of jacks and thankfully boated on the river to have my hand hold up.  Lots of other little/average-sized pots kept me moving in a positive direction.



Then Val moved all in with her tpgk against my top two and hit her three outer on the river...and a few hands after that the new guy sucked out on my tptk with the nut flush redraw (AdKh) (four flush on the turn, flush draw bricked on the river) with his KQo which made a gutshot broadway on the turn.  He also slow-rolled me, but he's a newbie and prolly doesn't know any better.  I sang the slow roll song to Billy with a smile on my face (my efforts to improve going on tilt are working... but I suppose that's easier to do when you are ahead) and at that point I was up $300 for the night so I paid my board, took my profit and went home...er, to school. 



Monday, January 28, 2008

Overheard in the gradlab

*Last night at a bar, a guy asked for my number.  After stumbling my way through the whole thing, and Anne laughing at how my game sucked so bad, I realized I am woefully out of practice in the ways of flirting.



me: I have no game.  The last time I dated someone was literally in the 90's.  I didn't even have a cell phone then! 



Melissa: Are you seriously trying to ask people in this department for dating advice?



me: Yeah but you are missing the point.  The last time I dated someone was when people were freaking out about Y2K.



Melissa: I wasn't even allowed to date the last time you dated someone.



me: Thanks.



Laryssa: At least the last time you dated someone it wasn't still called the Soviet Union.



Sunday, January 27, 2008

wisdom of the day

It's not very fun to be surrounded by drunk people when you are sober.



Saturday, January 26, 2008

What does it mean to be British?

A great article for any Anglophile on how the Brits are trying to institutionalize a British identity can be found here.  Scholars of identity politics might also be interested.



Don't call it a comeback

Went to Pink last night and played better than I've played there in quite awhile, which is not really saying that much.  However, I did manage to avoid tilt even after a few unfortunate hands and I made some good folds.  I could have saved a few bets here and there, but all in all I was really happy with my play.  I ended the night up $90 which is definitely a WIN in that game...especially since the game was short and a lot of the action drivers were not in the game.



Game broke early (around 5-ish) and we all went out to breakfast afterwards.  Still undecided if I will attempt to play NL on Monday.  I guess we'll see how I'm feeling after the first day of school.  I was playing so good in AC on Sunday before I went on tilt and started putting myself in bad situations...I know I have it in me to play good, I just need to do it.



Friday, January 25, 2008

Step 3 is the hardest

"The process of overcoming bias requires (1) first noticing the bias,
(2) analyzing the bias in detail, (3) deciding that the bias is bad,
(4) figuring out a workaround, and then (5) implementing it. It's
unfortunate how many people get through steps 1 and 2 and then bog down
in step 3, which by rights should be the easiest of the five. Biases
are lemons, not lemonade, and we shouldn't try to make lemonade out of
them - just burn those lemons down." - Eliezer Yudkowsky

This is one of my favorite quotes; it's been in my favorite quotes section on facebook for awhile.  It's one of my favorites because it is so true, and applicable to pretty much every aspect of life.  It does seem like the most difficult step in many things in life is deciding that something unhealthy or negative is, in fact, unhealthy and negative.  I tend to think: "Well, x, y, and z are bad, but who cares!" more than I should.



I'm going to pink tonight and I'm going to try to play good.  For me these days that primarily means reigning in my tilt.  My mental state is a lot better than its been in months; I know that's going to help.



Thursday, January 24, 2008

I can see clearly now, the rain is gone

This is the end of the fifth week of vacation.  Next Monday school starts.  I won't lie; I've spent most of break feeling pretty depressed. 



One of my friends told me that the first two months suck and then one day you just feel a lot better than you did before.  I finally hit that point a few days ago and boy does it feel good.  I hadn't been motivated to get anything done that I needed to (figuring out bills, organizing the house, prepping for school) the whole break.  Especially in the weeks since I've been back from Vegas, I felt myself sliding into a bad mental place...a place where I haven't been in a long time.  It freaked me out, but I didn't know what to do about it.  The last time I felt that way having a routine and responsibilities helped me get out and
stay on track.  But it's hard to have a routine when you are on break.  I couldn't pull myself up and out. 



I don't know what prompted it, but yesterday morning I woke up and said: "OK, you've got shit to do.  You better do it.  Get your life together."  And I did.  I actually got all my bills sorted, got the house 90% to where I want it to be (still waiting on the living room furniture), and started tackling school stuff.  I've been cooking.  And I don't feel depressed anymore.  I feel like things are going to be good and I know where I want to be in life, so I'm going there.



I have no idea what prompted this turnaround (school starting soon?  frustration with poker?  time?), but I'm glad it happened.  I'm looking forward to being (successful, happy, independent and self-sufficient) me again. 



Schedule update...

Just heard that I got the sections I wanted (Thursday afternoon)...so my official schedule now looks like this:



M:
11-11:50 Calculus
12:30-3:15 Voting
3:15-6:15 Religion and Politics



T:
9:30-10:45 Calculus



W:
3:30-4:20 Intro to American Govt (lecture for the class I'm TAing)



Th:
9:30-10:45 Calculus
2-4:50 Intro to American Government discussion sections





F:

Day off!



Wednesday, January 23, 2008

School starts Monday

In some ways I wish I didn't have to go back, but I'm also kinda bored just sitting around the house.



My schedule this semester follows.  As you can see, Mondays are the rough day of the week for me this year.  I've also decided that undergrad classes suck since they tend to be early in the am (9:30am twice a week?  For MATH??? Quelle horreur!)



M:
11-11:50 Calculus
12:30-3:15 Voting
3:15-6:15 Religion and Politics



T:
9:30-10:45 Calculus



W:
3:30-4:20 Intro to American Govt (lecture for the class I'm TAing)



Th:
9:30-10:45 Calculus



And I will also have three hours of sections either on Thursday afternoon or some time Friday (trying to get Thursday, so I can have Fridays off).



Making this for dinner tonight

I love this recipe.









       
               
               
       
       
               
       

                               


               







Pork Chops Stuffed with Feta and Spinach









  Cooking spray
4  garlic cloves, minced and divided
1/2 teaspoon salt, divided
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, divided
5  sun-dried tomatoes, packed without oil, diced
1  (10-ounce) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed, drained, and squeezed dry
1/4 cup (1 ounce) crumbled reduced-fat feta cheese
3 tablespoons (1 1/2 ounces) block-style fat-free cream cheese
1/2 teaspoon grated lemon rind
4  (4-ounce) boneless center-cut loin pork chops, trimmed
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano






       Preheat broiler.

Heat
a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking
spray. Add 2 garlic cloves; sauté 1 minute. Add 1/4 teaspoon salt, 1/8
teaspoon pepper, tomatoes, and spinach; sauté until moisture
evaporates. Remove from heat; stir in cheeses and rind.



Cut a
horizontal slit through thickest portion of each pork chop to form a
pocket. Stuff about 1/4 cup spinach mixture into each pocket. Sprinkle
remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt and remaining 1/8 teaspoon pepper over
pork. Arrange pork on the rack of a broiler pan or roasting pan coated
with cooking spray; place rack in pan. Combine remaining 2 garlic
cloves, juice, mustard, and oregano in a bowl; stir well. Brush half of
mustard mixture over pork. Broil 6 minutes; turn pork. Brush remaining
mixture over pork; broil 2 minutes or until done.



You learn something new everyday

I was out with a few friends last night and the discussion turned briefly to foreign cinema.  I was somewhat surprised to discover that one of my friends likes foreign films as much as me...and even better, he had brought me the special edition dvd of a Korean film that sounded especially interesting: Oldboy.  So when I got home last night, I watched it.



How this film slipped past my radar, I will never know, especially since it won the Cannes Grand Prix in 2004.  Seriously though, it's a great movie.  Definitely recommended.



Monday, January 21, 2008

Hooray for furniture Part 2

I haven't been sleeping in a bed for awhile.  I forgot how nice it is to just spend a lazy day in bed watching movies.  Got home from AC this morning around 7 and spent the rest of the day watching Casino Royale, The Magnificent Seven, and Sum of All Fears.  Hooray for lazy Mondays, movies in bed, and actually having a bed to watch movies in. 



House is almost back to a furnished state...except for the living room.  Still waiting for the couch to get here.  Also still have an empty bedroom that I'm trying to figure out what to do with.



Friday, January 18, 2008

Tamale Pie

Back in the day, I used to post a recipe every week that I had tried and thought was good.  That was when I was trying new dishes every week.  Well, one of the things I want to be better about in 2008 is eating healthier and cooking more, so I tried this recipe from Real Simple earlier in the week. 



I've made something similar to this before, but the addition of cocoa, jalapenos, and using meatloaf mix instead of just ground beef makes this version taste better.  It's a very easy recipe and the leftovers keep well.



Tamale Pie







1

tablespoon olive oil

    
               

1

onion, chopped

    
               

1

large celery stalk, chopped

    
               

2

garlic cloves, minced

    
               

1

jalapeño pepper, chopped with seeds

    
               

2

teaspoons kosher salt

    
               

1/2

teaspoon ground cumin

    
               

2

tablespoons chili powder

    
               

2

tablespoons unsweetened cocoa

    
               

1/2

teaspoon ground cinnamon

    
               

2

pounds meat-loaf mix (1 pound lean ground beef, 1/2 pound ground pork, 1/2 pound ground veal or lamb)

    
               

2

15-ounce cans kidney beans, drained

    
               

2

14 1/2-ounce cans diced tomatoes, drained

    
               

2

cups shredded Cheddar

    
               

2

8 1/2-ounce corn-bread mixes (may require 1 egg and 1 1/3 cup milk per package)

    




Heat oven to 350º F. In a medium skillet, over
medium heat, heat the oil with the onion, celery, garlic, and jalapeño
and cook until the vegetables are tender but not browned, about 10
minutes. Add the salt, cumin, chili powder, cocoa, and cinnamon. Add
the meat and cook until well browned. Stir in kidney beans and diced
tomatoes. Lightly coat a 13-by-9-inch casserole or baking dish with
vegetable cooking spray. Spoon the beef and beans into the casserole.
Top with 2 cups shredded Cheddar. Heat oven to 375º F. Prepare
corn-bread mixes according to the label directions; pour the batter
over the cheese. Bake for 40 minutes or until the top is golden brown.



Wednesday, January 16, 2008

Hooray for furniture!

Finally - my last piece of furniture will be delivered on Friday.  Then I will finally be able to sleep in a bed again and have furniture in my living room!  Gotta go buy some sheets and pillows and then I'll be all set.  It's the simple things...



Low limit O8

I've been playing a lot of low limit O8 sit and go's on FT recently and doing pretty well.  There's a lot of people out there who just don't have the first clue what they are doing at O8.  The money is not huge since I am playing $5 and $10 tourneys, but I've been happy with my play and it gets me some practice both at tournaments and at O8, which I really only get to play live these days at pink.  Plus, while I'm not in school, it's a good way to kill some time.



Was cruising along in one today until this rather unfortunate hand (see below).  After this, I played the short stack really strong and was hanging tough til my nuts on the turn got baby flushed on the river by someone hanging in with the nut low draw.  Booo...



As far as this hand, yeah I probably shouldn't have played it in the first place (though I was in the small blind), but what the heck is the whitewood47 doing calling all the way for?  The only card that can come to make him/her feel happy about his/her hand is a 4.  Nice hit, sir.



Full Tilt Poker Game #4881575068: $5 + $0.50 Sit & Go (37055970), Table 1 - 300/600 - Limit Omaha H/L - 13:26:46 ET - 2008/01/16
Seat 2: slykwyly (4,201)
Seat 4: whitewood47 (3,108)
Seat 6: sk1126 (3,720)
Seat 9: malikat (2,471)
sk1126 posts the small blind of 150
malikat posts the big blind of 300
The button is in seat #4
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to sk1126 [Jd 7c 7s 5s]
slykwyly calls 300
whitewood47 calls 300
sk1126 calls 150
malikat checks
*** FLOP *** [Ks 7h 3c]
sk1126 bets 300
malikat calls 300
slykwyly calls 300
whitewood47 calls 300
*** TURN *** [Ks 7h 3c] [9c]
sk1126 bets 600
malikat calls 600
slykwyly calls 600
whitewood47 calls 600
*** RIVER *** [Ks 7h 3c 9c] [4h]
sk1126 bets 600
malikat raises to 1,200
slykwyly raises to 1,800
whitewood47 calls 1,800
sk1126 calls 1,200
malikat calls 71, and is all in
*** SHOW DOWN ***
slykwyly shows [2s Ad 2c 2d] a pair of Twos, for high and 7,4,3,2,A, for low
whitewood47 shows [5d 6c As Tc] a straight, Seven high, for high and 7,5,4,3,A, for low
sk1126 mucks
whitewood47 wins the high side pot (794) with a straight, Seven high
slykwyly wins the low side pot (793) with 7,4,3,2,A
malikat shows [Qh Ac 2h 5c] Ace King high, for high and 7,4,3,2,A, for low
whitewood47 wins the high main pot (4,942) with a straight, Seven high
malikat ties for the low main pot (2,471) with 7,4,3,2,A
slykwyly ties for the low main pot (2,471) with 7,4,3,2,A
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 11,471 Main pot 9,884. Side pot 1,587. | Rake 0
Board: [Ks 7h 3c 9c 4h]
Seat 2: slykwyly showed [2s Ad 2c 2d] and won (3,264) with HI: a pair of Twos; LO: 7,4,3,2,A
Seat 4: whitewood47 (button) showed [5d 6c As Tc] and won (5,736) with HI: a straight, Seven high; LO: 7,5,4,3,A
Seat 6: sk1126 (small blind) mucked [Jd 7c 7s 5s] - HI: three of a kind, Sevens
Seat 9: malikat (big blind) showed [Qh Ac 2h 5c] and won (2,471) with HI: Ace King high; LO: 7,4,3,2,A



Tuesday, January 15, 2008

Wow was that really three+ years ago?

One of my favorite quotes is from a song by John Lennon: "Life is what happens while you are busy making other plans" because it is so true.  No one ever expects to be where they end up (or the Spanish Inquisition).  Well, I guess maybe some people do, but I don't really know anyone who doesn't have some surprises in their life.



I was at a poker game this morning and Jay commented to me that he was reading my blog for the first time.  While we were talking I realized that the first post I made on here was 11/2004.  Wow - that's a long time.  I just went back and read some posts.  Some things are the same...other things are a lot different.



I'm pretty happy with the person I've become in the past few years, but there are a lot of things that make me who I am now that I never could have predicted.  Guess that's what makes life interesting.



Poker is really stupid

Last week I tried to play "really good", by which I mean really bad.  Went in to the Monday night game last night giving myself a poker pep talk and trying to play good for real...and I did.  Before I knew it, an hour or two into the game, I'm up a hundred+.  As much as I would like to be up a million, I didn't really have any big hands...just taking down a bunch of small pots without much of anything.  Then somehow my aces stand up against Matt's kings and suddenly I have just under $700 profit...  I overplayed some hands, got some other hands cracked, then tried to get cute in an effort to get some money back.  After all that, hours later I am back to $100 profit.  Then I misread my hand and give Travis $100 because I thought I had a pair.  Oooops!  It's been so long since I've fucked something up that stupidly...wow, now I'm actually stuck in this dumb game.



Somehow I managed to leave the game with just under $800...  Please, don't call it a comeback until I am cashed out.



I like rollercoasters a lot, but not of the poker variety.  Wow...sometimes I play really bad. 



Saturday, January 12, 2008

Labels mean nothing

So I noticed the other day that Rounders was on Encore Mystery.  Now Rainman is on Encore Westerns.



Friday, January 11, 2008

Home alone...

...with three empty rooms and several dust bunnies.  Time to clean and then start getting furniture to store the piles of stuff that are currently homeless...most notably many of my clothes which are currently piled in various locations around the house.  Bed frame arrived yesterday - now just need to assemble it and buy a mattress.  Still in the market for a couch and a dresser or two (for the clothes).



Still need to clean up the remnants of last night's post-bowling get together in the basement too.  We drank beer, watched Lucky Number Slevin, and played 7 card roll your own.  Between dust bunnies and beer cans, I got lots of cleaning to do...better get to it.



Wednesday, January 9, 2008

Why are we here?

This time of year, a lot of people make resolutions or reflect on the previous year.  I try to reflect on my life every day, not just in January, and I'm generally not one to make resolutions just because it's the new year either.  But I have been thinking a lot about what the purpose of life is over the past few weeks.  I was watching Dogma the other day and at one point one of the characters asks God: "Why are we here?"  It's a good question.



I won't lie.  I tend to be a bit of a hedonist.  I do things because they are going to make me feel good.  I don't really worry to much about the consequences of my actions to the extent that I probably should.  I tend to live in the short term.  However, at the same time, I believe in trying to treat others with respect.  This is something I fail at too often, but in the past few days I have been trying to make amends with people that I have not been very respectful to and it's been nice.  In terms of the purpose of life, trying to contribute to positiveness in the world rather than negativeness has to be up there.  And if nothing else, it's helped to get me off the life tilt I've been on by making *me* feel more positive.



Overheard on gmail chat

Since overheard in the gradlab is on hiatus for the months of January, I present the following message sent to me by the ever hilarious Mike McDonald, who should be studying for his comp.



Background: Mancur Olson (famous in polisci for his work on collective action problems) was faculty at UMD's Econ department before he died.  There was a bench dedicated to him behind Tydings.  It recently disappeared.  Jim sent out an invite to join a facebook group to protest the bench being taken away.



5:38 PM Mike:
dude... no body wants that Mancur Olsen bench back more than me, but I
am not going to join the facebook group. I'm going to free ride


5:39 PM me: hahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha


5:41 PM Mike: actually, i dont care about the bench


 what are you up to?







this is seriously hilarious

Apparently some government grad students at Hahvahd made a spoof of the office. The montage at the beginning featuring free food and restocking printer paper speaks to GVPT students at UMD too.  It begs the question though - how do grad students at Harvard have so much free time, especially at the end of the semester?  See especially around 6:40 when the faculty start talking about grad students and their work ethic and 9:10 when they talk about firing the theorists.  Ha ha ha (w/apologies to my theorist friends).

   


New blog to add to your blogrolls/feedreaders

I just got an email over the epovb listserv and it seems that some of my professors at GW have started a political science blog.  They currently have some really interesting analysis of the NH primaries up.  If you are into this kind of thing, go check it out.



Sunday, January 6, 2008

Vegas poker time

I got back from Vegas 4 days ago.  In those four days, I've been up for sunrise every day, except one.  I feel like a vampire.  Not much incentive for me to get back on a normal sleep schedule either.



The Dividing of Assets Sucks

Have you ever tried to go through and divide up belongings from someone you have lived with for seven years?  It's not exactly a fun process.  People accumulate a lot of stuff together without even realizing it, and then after you've been together for awhile you also consolidate belongings too.  There's all kinds of things that you use on a daily basis that you take for granted until you are faced with the prospect of not having them anymore.



Friday, January 4, 2008

Advise and Consent

For Christmas I got this dvd set of controversial movies.  Out of all the different movies, the only one I'd seen before was The Blackboard Jungle.  Anyways, I dug into the dvds today and started by watching Advise and Consent.  It's directed by Otto Preminger...and I can't believe I've never seen this movie before.  Henry Fonda plays an appointee for Secretary of State and the movie is all about the party politics of the congressional approval process.  I'm not sure I liked the very end of the movie, but overall it was good and I'd recommend it to anyone who likes political movies. 



Thursday, January 3, 2008

Belated Happy New Year

I have never been one to really care about New Year's.  I don't usually get all decked out...usually just hang out with a few friends drinking, or I cook something special and we stay at home being lame.  But this year's New Year's in Vegas was pretty damned fun.  We went to the spa, got all gussied up, played some table games, and then went out on the strip to watch the fireworks.  New Years is also probably the only time I could order champagne from the cocktail waitress and not feel like a total tool.



Anyways, just got back from Vegas this morning.  It was a good trip and I actually came back slightly ahead (though actually not if you count $$$ spent on food).  I'm still trying to recover from my Vegas hangover (you know, coming into contact with so many germs through chips, dry air, drinking, lack of sleep, cigarette smoke everywhere...), but I'll try to get trip reports and pictures up in the next few days.