Texas Weather

It is currently 75 degrees Fahernheit in Austin, Texas.  And yes, it is January down here in Texas just like it is everywhere else in the world.  This spot of warm weather has allowed me to enjoy breakfast and coffee on my balcony the last few mornings, and I have to say, the experience has been terrific.  Unfortunately, this warm weather will not last, and the high on Wednesday will be a mere 37.  Coincidentally, I will be heading up to Syracuse, New York this upcoming weekend to experience a real winter (snow!).

It will be a little strange leaving this city in the next year or two.  I have gotten quite used to the warmth and twelve months of green (not to mention all of the other lovely experiences Austin has to offer).  That being said, I do miss the snow.  I miss mountains and dense forests.  I miss seasons.  So, we'll see where I end up after all is said and done.

And I just realized where all of this sap came from.  It's the damn post-rock in the background.  Curse you Sigur Rós!

Someone has to throw the dice.

Although the thought of Albert Einstein as a real life "Dungeon Master" is quite frightening.

Grumble Grumble Grumble

Sleep.  Everyone needs more of it.

I have been an extremely light sleeper for most of my life.  If a neighbor two doors down opens a window at 2 AM, there is a pretty good chance that I will wake up.  Hence, when I collected a new neighbor last year that likes to hold loud conversations at 2 in the morning, I reluctantly made the sad voyage to the couch.  Nowadays, I sleep on the couch 3 or 4 nights a week.  That being said, the couch is fairly comfortable, but I would like to reclaim my queen sized bed.  So, if anyone out there has any advice for a light sleeper like me, that would be most appreciated.

Anyways.  I finally began my long trek back into running this morning (post-proposal).  I ventured a whopping 2 miles, but it still stung like hell.  I find it hilarious that the first 2 or 3 miler hurts more than later fartlek and tempo workouts.  I guess that is why they say getting started is the hardest part.  I have been trying to re-evaluate where to go with the running thing this spring.  Originally, I was going to attempt a new PR in the 5K in one of the many races during Austin's Sprint Series.  After a series of injuries last year emanating from track workouts, I am not sure that goal is the smartest idea in the world.  While I do plan on throwing myself into the mix at some local 5Ks, my new plan is to try to get into a general sort of shape for a collection of trail runs and marathons this summer.  I think my body will appreciate that in the end.

Jerseys!

As most of you are probably well-aware, I coach one of the undergraduate clubs at the University of Texas, the Texas Running Club.  Last night, the club had its kick-off meeting, and at the meeting, jerseys which were ordered in the fall were finally handed out.  And I have to say: they turned out damn sexy.  Hot damn.

One fish, two fish, red fish, blue fish.

Now, I usually don't like (cooked) fish.  There is just something about it that just feels off to me.  However, I discovered I had high cholosterol when I was 17 years old, so I usually try to make fish somewhat of a staple in my diet.  Tonight, I tried a simple gluten-free blackened tilapia recipe with a bit of a twist.  Namely, I used this for the base rub and replaced the standard 3/4 teaspoon of cayenne pepper with a full teaspoon and a half of cayenne pepper.  The resulting dish had a huge kick, proving the extra cayenne pepper successfully added some flavor to a meal I usually don't look forward to.

When in Rome, do as the Romans do.

Last night, I had the privilege of playing the board game "The Republic of Rome".  I knew I was in for a long night when I discovered the rule book was around 25 pages long and it took around an hour and fifteen minutes for the host to explain the rules.  However, once we really started to get going, I really enjoyed the game.

The game takes place in the Senate of the Roman Republic from about 264 BC to 43 BC.  It is split into three time periods: Early Republic (think the first and second Punic Wars), Mid Republic (the era of the Gracchi), and Late Republic (the civil wars and Julius Caesar).  We elected to go with the Mid Republic.  Each player represents a faction of senators, and the goal of each player is to amass enough influence to have one's faction leader declared "Consul for Life" or have the most influence at the end of a chosen time period.  However, there is a catch.  The game can also win.  Each player must ensure that Rome survives the many crises that may fall upon it such as wars, famines, and riots.  As such, each player must conduct a delicate balancing act between cooperation and competition.

During each year or "turn", there are seven phases during which consuls and province governors are elected, affairs of the state are conducted, battles are fought against the various barbarian tribes, and so on.  To deal with all of these events, the players must interact.  For example, during one phase of play, the current Consul of State makes a selection of governors for the various provinces.  The players then vote on it, with each player's vote being weighted by their respective influence.  It should be noted that once a senator is elected governor, he is no longer in Rome and hence can no longer participate in Senate votes.  On the other hand, he then brings wealth and influence to his given faction.  This complicated interplay makes for a most interesting gaming experience.

At the end of the day, the game won.  We were thrown into the midst of five wars at once, and though we emptied the coffers of Rome to build a massive army, disaster would strike and our army was swiftly defeated due to two unfortunate rolls of the die.   We were not even a third of the way into the game.  That being said, I would definitely play again.  It reminded me vaguely of a board game version of Rome: Total War, one of my favorite computer strategy games of all time.  I await the next opportunity to take the Roman Senate floor.

P.S.  I played this game with a bunch of Classics PhD Students.  And for what its worth, they enjoyed it.  I would say that says a lot about the game right there.

Oh Sweet Wedding

Life has been both very exciting and exhausting the last three months.  As you all know, I have been frantically typing and coding away at my dissertation research, and I have also, with my fiancee and her parents, been planning a wedding.  Well, I can officially now say:

Sarah and I will be getting married February 25, 2012.

We have a chapel booked and a reception hall booked.  We even have a caterer booked.  And I have to say - once we managed to book everywhere we wanted, we breathed out a huge sigh of relief.  We are learning the hard way - weddings are stressful, even during the very initial planning stages.  We are trying to do things on somewhat of a budget, so if anyone out there has any advice, we would love to hear about it.  Anyways, we even have a wedding website if you would like to hear more details about the wedding.  Although I am sure, like all things, details will change as February 25, 2012 draws nearer.

Oh yeah. Happy New Year.

I forgot to say it in my last post:

Happy New Year everyone.  Let's make it a good one.

And I am finally done.

For all of those who did not know, I have been heavily cranking on my dissertation proposal for the last three months and have not had much time for anything else.  I finally had my proposal defense and oral qualifying exam yesterday, and the verdict is... I passed.  I could not be happier right now.  I am actually very excited about my proposal work.  I think it has the potential to make quite an impact in the computational fluids community.  And at any rate, I am just amazed I was able to string together about 12 100+ hour work weeks.  For those of you who are interested, my proposal can be downloaded here:

http://users.ices.utexas.edu/~evans/Proposal/proposal.pdf

And my proposal presentation can be downloaded here:

http://users.ices.utexas.edu/~evans/Proposal/Presentation.pdf

Careful though.  They are both quite long (at my research institute, we tend to present our proposals after 80-85% of the research has already been done).

In other news, I have discovered the joys of Torchlight recently after purchasing it for my Mac for four dollars.  I have to say its one of my best four dollar purchases I have ever made.  For those of you who don't know, Torchlight is a standard hack and slash game which was created by many of the developers of Diablo 2.  Think of it as a spiritual sequel to Diablo 2.  The result?  A great stress relief tool.  The only flaw is that the game has a paper thin plot.  But then again, sometimes you just want to hit the orc over the head without thinking about things like plot.

I have also decided to start casually reading again.  I am starting with Neal Stephenson's Anathem (I adored Snow Crash and have been trying to read Neal's other novels since), and I am going to finally read William Gibson's famous cyberpunk Sprawl Trilogy after that (Neuromancer, Count Lisa, Count Overdrive).  I also want to check out The Well at the World's End, a late 19th century fantasy novel which has been cited as a big inspiration for Tolkien's Lord of the Rings.  The book actually now lies in the public domain apparently.  As I have not taken the time to do some casual reading in a few years, I would love any ideas.  I tend to read anything that is thrown in front of me, but I often drift towards fantasy and sci-fi.

Anyways, I gotta run, but I just wanted to say I am glad to be back in the blogosphere.