Pokemon Menorah

Supplies:
3 packs red clay (with four divisions)
3 packs white clay (with four divisions)
1 pack black clay (with 8 divisions)
3 knives for cutting clay
gloves if you are smart and do not want to stain your hands


Take two sections of white clay and roll into balls.  Do this four times.
Wash your hands or change gloves.  Do the same with the white clay.
Use your knife to cut the balls in half.  They will squish a little, but it's okay.  Just make sure you use different knives for different colors.



Using the black clay knife, slice one of the thin black pieces.  Work it with your fingers so that you have two sections.  Smush it gently into the red half.  Put a candle between these pieces, then put the white piece on.  Use a napkin so that you don't get your red fingerprints all over the nice white clay.  An unpatterned napkin would be good.




Do this eight times, placing the balls next to each other and pushing together.


Now it's time for the shamash holder.  Take the remaining packs of red and white clay, and roll all four sections into balls, keeping a little bit of the white aside for the ball in the middle.  Each of these will be half of the shamash.


Put a layer of black clay throughout the middle and push together.  Then take a little piece of black and roll it into a snake.  Take the little bit of leftover white clay, roll into tiny sphere, and smush it down to make the circle for the middle.  Wrap the snake around the white circle.

Dig out a little of the middle of the pokeball, and put the black-edged white circle there.


Carefully push a candle down into the shamash to make the holder.  Go back over all the candleholders to make a little bigger because the clay will shrink slightly.


Bake as instructed by the clay package.  Ours was 275 degrees, 15 minutes per 1/4 inch.  We baked 2.5  hours.  Should have done more but we had to get to a birthday party.  Still came out awesome!

An Office Prank

One of my employees is returning from a two-week vacation tomorrow. Please view the video to see what we did to his office. For more, here are some photos. =)

And, yes, I realize revenge will not be pretty. =D

Traffic!

Yup, it's been a while. Anyway, if you have ever spoken with me for more than an hour anywhere near a car, I've probably launched into my theories on traffic jams. They have been proven!

Check it out, non-believers!

Vista defending itself against Ubuntu

I know I've been quiet for a little bit, but I had to post this picture. I bought a new laptop yesterday (which came with a "bad battery" according to Toshiba, meaning I had to charge it overnight as punishment or something). I played with Vista for about 3 hours, determined to give it a chance. It is beyond awful. I mean, you can't even organize your own start menu! That's just first on the list of woes. But anyway, I decided to partition and install ubuntu. I'm guessing Vista has some kind of self-defense mechanism which caused an updated version of the blue screen of death...

2007 MIT Commencement

On Thursday, I journeyed to Boston for the 2007 MIT Commencement. It was wonderful to see fellow students (I guess I should call them "alumni" now), professors, and administrators. The weekend started with a gathering at Cambridge Brewing Company, a favorite hang-out during my days at MIT.

On Friday, I went to the gym to line up with my fellow graduates. The gym was stiflingly hot, but it was still great to see everybody and catch up. Eventually, we lined up and started moving. After halting at the fields, on the little street outside the gym, on Mass Ave, and on Memorial Drive, we finally made our way in.

I was so excited to see my mom, dad, and Dan sitting about halfway between the stage and the entrance. I stepped out of line for a couple of pictures (reminiscent of what I had done at Dartmouth), then continued on.

This graduation was so different from my Dartmouth graduation. I remember sitting there, feeling at peace, yet confused. I don't remember getting my diploma-I didn't even remember it right after it happened, it was such a blur. One of the things the two commencements had in common were my luck in next-door seatmates. At Dartmouth, my good friend Rusty ended up sitting next to me by luck of alphabetical order. At MIT, I was surrounded by Sam and Fernando who happened to be good friends of mine. Other SDMers were well within talking distance, which made the experience even better.

I also remember the speeches this year, something that was another blur at Dartmouth. The keynote speaker, a former President of MIT, started off by alluding to the fact that Harvard had had both Bill Clinton and Bill Gates talk. Said he, "People may be saying *they* got two Bills, and all we got was a Chuck!" He continued to say that he would be talking directly to us rather than to the world, and proceeded to give a very effective speech about success, service, and giving back.

When I went up to get my diploma this year, I felt much more confident and aware. I had a wreath of flowers around my cap, and two of the professors on stage complimented it, including the greeter. When he said, "I like your hat!" I returned with, "And I like yours!" (seeing as he was in full regalia). I remember getting my diploma and walking down from the stage. Of course, I did not realize we were being filmed and put on big-screen TV's during our walks from the stage, so the camera caught me looking pensive. As a matter of fact, I felt close to tears at many times during the day, I was so happy to be there and proud of myself for getting my Master's degree.

As soon as I sat back down, off came the gown. I was wearing a strapless dress under it, so it's not like I was indecent. The only thing indecent was the 80+ degree temperatures and sun pouring down on all of us poor souls sitting there in black caps and gowns. It was much more comfy without it. For the recessional, I again donned the gown.

Afterwards, we went to the SDM reception, which was just wonderful. Most of the SDM'ers went there afterward, so it was nice to have a place to bid all farewell (for now). The food was great, and it was wonderful to see Pat, Helen, Chris, and Bill as well as some of the families and spouses of my fellow alumni. We were supposed to go to Capital Grille for dinner, but my parents, Dan, and I agreed we were exhausted from the heat and excitement, so went back to Sharon for a nap and eventual take-out pizzas from Town Spa.

On Saturday, Dan and I went into town to wander around. We met up with Elizabeth, Corey, and Suzanne at one of our favorite haunts, the Boston Beerworks. I was overjoyed to be surrounded by so many intellectual people at MIT, and that same sentiment just continued with these girls. Our discussion went all over the map. Dan was a good sport when asked to give opinions as the token male. =) We were joined by Ray, a friend of mine from school, at the Grand Canal. I really miss my friends.

Thank you to everybody who made my commencement weekend so special. =)

How Not to Use PowerPoint

Oh my goodness, after three years at a defense firm and two years in grad school, this video on how not to use PowerPoint really hit home. Very funny, but a lot of great lessons to be learned!

Commencement approaches...

MIT Commencement is this coming Friday. I officially graduated in February (and completed and submitted my thesis in November), but am so excited to walk on Friday I can barely sit still.

I really loved my time at MIT. I miss being surrounded by highly-intelligent yet variously-skilled people. I cannot wait to see many of my old classmates starting after I get my cap, gown, and tickets on Thursday afternoon.

Maybe returning to MIT will give me the inspiration I apparently need to finally write my oft-promised MIT Summary. ;)

Dude. Florida has a lot of license plates

I was just looking at the list of Florida license plates. I can't get over how many there are! We seem to be a very demanding state, telling everybody to save this and protect that. =D Any guesses to which one I have?

Web 2.0 Analogy

The thesis I completed for my Master's degree was on a Web 2.0 technology, and I frequently get asked by technical people and non-techies alike exactly what Web 2.0 is. Most folks know that Web 2.0 makes the old web look prettier and "slicker" and has something to do with community, but many are not sure of how to distinguish between the two.

Problem is that Web 2.0 isn't exactly anything. It's fuzzily many things. So here is my current analogy:
Web pre-2.0 : dinner at a friend's house :: Web 2.0 : a potluck dinner

I like this analogy because it addresses the inherent fuzziness in trying to define something that is an evolution of its previous existence. First, I'll explain the dinners, then try to relate them back to the different Web x.x's.

When you go to a friend's house for dinner, your friend makes dinner for you...most of the time. Maybe you brought over some brownies for dessert, and maybe he ordered in an appetizer from the local Indian place, but basically, he is presenting dinner.

When you go to a potluck dinner, everybody brings a dish (except those sneaky little lurkers who just show up and help themselves while contributing nothing). You probably would not have eaten 0l' Peggy's meatloaf had you just run into her on the street, but there is an inherent sense of trust at this location, so you help yourself to a large slice. You like Jerry's mini-quiches so ask him for the recipe, which he readily gives you (unlike Lenny who encouraged you to eat all of his rice pilaf you like but would not tell you how it was concocted). You talk to Ann about her potato salad and end up making plans to play tennis in a week.

The Web pre-2.0 is very much like a friend's for dinner. You are going to a specific place for a specific purpose. You used to go to your bank web site to check your account, just as you go to your friends to eat your dinner. Maybe as the web evolved, you began to pay bills there. This made it a two-way street: instead of just getting information, you were giving some back. This is kind of like you bringing a dessert to contribute to a dinner.

On to our potluck. Imagine a typical potluck dinner, maybe at a community center. You look around the room and see all kinds of different people. You wonder which food they bought. You see some people that look out of place or that you may not trust, but most people in the room have earned some kind of trust from you by sharing the communal purpose of a potluck. Some folks are there to see others, some are there to promote services (like the local injury lawyer), some are there to watch you.

Web 2.0 is defined by a communal atmosphere: instead of the company or host bringing the goodies, the community brings it. It is also defined by an atmosphere of trust; not absolute trust, but more trust than was perhaps exhibited before. For example, AJAX is a large part of the slickness of Web 2.0 interfaces. However, AJAX is little more than JavaScript made beautiful with stylesheets. Many people (myself included) used to have their browsers set to not allow JavaScript, as it could be used for unsavory purposes. However, as the Web community grows more trusting, more and more users are allowing JavaScript, trusting that those that wrote it will not be invading their desktops. (Yes, I am ignoring spyware concerns for today...one problem at a time, folks).

Programming Language from MIT

MIT has been testing a new programming language designed at enticing the younger crowd into coding. My programming experience started when I was in elementary school with a book on BASIC my dad gave me in which I would "code" designs that would eventually print out something resembling an American flag, a house, or a dog.

In Nancy Leveson's class on programming language, we often discussed how there was very few differences among the languages, whether they be procedural, object-oriented, or a loosely-classified "other." However, in this case, it's not so much the language as the perception of it.

There are still way too few female programmers. I remember my first week of freshman year at Dartmouth, walking into a large theatre-style-seating lecture hall to take a placement exam for computer science. Most of the seats in the hall were filled. I was the only female.

Since then, I've often considered why girls don't go into programming. I think there are a variety of reasons for it. Perhaps two of the largest are the nerdy stigma that goes with it and that lack of a social quality. Face it; despite how many meetings or collaborations we might have, developers still sit in front of a computer most of the day (except for those doing the XP-team-programming thing).

I loved that this article pointed to the collaborative element of this language, that students could laugh and share a joke. The picture at the top of the article showed two girls laughing while sitting in front of a machine. So, while the BASIC I learned on was simple like Scratch, it did not have the collaborative, "fun" element this new language seems to have. While I do not think that this language will be the panacea for the gender disparity in programming-type jobs, I do think that people on the Scratch project are thinking in the right direction.

It's raining!!!!

It hasn't rained here in a month (since April 13th or so). Yay!

Weather in Sarasota

The air in Sarasota today is so smoky it made my eyes water. It's been smoky since last night; it's very eerie out. The sun was red as I drove to the gym today.

It's an understatement to say that we are all ready for a little rain down here. There's a chance of thunderstorms toward the weekend, but not much before then. Who ever thought I'd be *hoping* for rain???

Love from Florida

Just wanted to say a quick hello to everybody and let y'all know I am still doing well here in Florida. It's just like Boston, only sunnier, less rain, and instead of an influx of college students from September through May we get snowbirds from December through May. Yup, those are the major differences in a nutshell.

Last night I saw "Akeelah and the Bee." If anyone of you remember this blog, you will recall that I love spelling bees. I began to miss blogging while watching the movie, especially when I actually recognized spellers from past competitions in the movie. Typical Ilana moment I thought my blog followers might appreciate.

I am going to MIT in June for my official graduation and getting very excited for it. I'll try to slip a few posts in here and there, as I do miss blogging and have been doing some cool stuff with AJAX that a few of my geekier readers may enjoy learning about =)

10th Man Plans

If you Google "10th man red sox," this blog is link 5 or 6. For all my fellow 10th-man-planners who find this blog this way, I apologize. I, too, am trying to find out when to expect my 10th man tickets!

And, oh yeah, I still owe y'all an "End of MIT Era" blog post. It's coming, I swear!

Update

I apologize for my lack of writing (and for the fluff-filled entries when I have been writing as of late). =)

I originally started this blog to write about my experiences in the SDM program at MIT. I finished my last class this summer, and submitted my thesis on November 22. School has therefore been effectively over for me for some time now.

On the same day I submitted my thesis, Dan proposed to me. I accepted, and we are now engaged to be married (no date set). I will be moving to Sarasota, Florida next week.

SOoooo...things have been busy! Once I am in Sarasota, I will get to a wrap-up post.

Happy Holidays and New Year, everybody! =)

Very moving story

This is an incredibly moving story, (even if the kid had to settle for Harvard rather than playing for the Big Green ;)). But seriously, it will make you count your blessings.

Murphy's Lesser-Known Dictums

Thanks to Lissette for this email:

Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.

He who laughs last, thinks slowest.

Those who live by the sword get shot by those who don't.

Nothing is foolproof to a sufficiently talented fool.

The 50-50-90 rule: Anytime you have a 50-50 chance of getting something right, there's a 90% probability you'll get it wrong.

The things that come to those who wait will be the things left by those who got there first.

Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day. Teach a man to fish and he will sit in a boat all day drinking beer.

The shin bone is a device for finding furniture in a dark room.

A fine is a tax for doing wrong. A tax is a fine for doing well.

When you go into court, you are putting yourself in the hands of 12 people who weren't smart enough to get out of jury duty.

On Deion

Right now, I hate Deion Branch with a passion unbridled. Seriously! =D

I picked him up for my fantasy football team back when he was still a Patriot. I decided to stick with him, playing him the previous few weeks. When he scored me few points, I ditched him.

My opponent, Vicious and Delicious, has won like 3 of the last 6 fantasy football seasons (bastid). He picked Deion up. I played V&D this week. Look at the difference in our scores thus far:



And, yes, I'm bitter. =D Fortunately, I get to go to the beach now, so my bitterness will be fleeting.

"Pay it Forward" - Not a Happy Movie

Okay, if you haven't seen this movie yet and want to, do not read this entry. Of course, I would highly recommend NOT seeing it.

Last night I was futzing about, baking cookies (yes, you read right), cleaning, talking on the phone, and avoiding my thesis. For the more mundane tasks, I wanted background noise, so I noticed that TiVo had picked up "Pay it Forward" as one of its suggestions.

I see very few movies in the theatre, so usually know a lot about a movie before I watch it at home (as it is usually a few years old). For some reason, I had only heard good things about this movie. It made a nice little backdrop to my tasks. Some parts of it were cheesy, but whatcha gonna do with a feelgood flick??

THEN THE KID DIES. What the hell? I was so mad. There was no reason for him to die saving his friend from getting his butt kicked. Yes, I saw the obvious martyrdom/new religion themes, but seriously....so sad! Afterwards, I had to watch "Dumbo" to perk myself back up. Nothing like a big-eared elephant in an antiquated Disney film with questionably-valued birds to make a girl smile....

Back from NY

Just got back from New York after spending a day with Eve, Jeff, and Hannah. The drive was gorgeous; the leaves are changing but not yet falling. Eve and I spent the day in the city with Hannah, then came home for a home-cooked meal by Jeff for us and his parents. SO much fun.

Okay, now I'm going to working on my thesis, I swear ;)