First Day of School

As of today, I have survived moving back in to Cornell and my first day(s) of classes. It noticeably lacked the enthusiasm shown in Finding Nemo. This semester, the engineers start taking more specialized classes; the sophomore (potential) chemical engineers are enrolled in physical chemistry and mass and energy balances. A lot of us are also taking linear algebra. This means that I get to spend Monday, Wednesday, and Friday mornings with all the same people. We actually walk from one class to the next together.

Since moving off north campus, our walk has been considerable shortened, but now we start our mornings by walking up the slope. It’s not much fun on a good day. It’s even less fun at 8:30 in the morning with a full backpack in 80 degree weather and 90 100 percent humidity. It remains to be seen how fun it is going down the slope when it’s negative degrees out, with 40 mile per hour winds and everything covered in two inches of ice.

I started my first day of classes by hauling myself up the slope and over to the arts quad for physical chemistry. Fortunately, I did not have to bring my p-chem textbook. It is known to the publishers, who are not affiliated with Cornell, as the big red book. Let’s guess which one it is:

Why, yes, it is the one that's twice as large as any of my other books.

After p-chem, the ChemE faction of the class went on to Mass and Energy Balances and Linear Algebra (some of us). I already have homework in all three classes. There goes my weekend, not that I was actually planning to do anything.

In other news, I am completely unpacked, which means that it took me about . . . a couple less weeks that last year. Yes, weeks. I was on top of things, as you can obviously tell.

My ruler and colored pencils have made their return to Cornell, as have Hezekiah, my rocket ship cup, and my periodic table placemat. This year I also have my soccer ball (which appears to have a slow leak), climbing shoes and chalk, and Lord of the Rings Trivial Pursuit. Friday nights should be exciting: think chips, salsa, and a tiny metal Aragorn figurine.

Summer Recap

With mere days separating me from the grind of classes, problem sets, and essays back at Cornell, I've been considering the productivity of my summer spent without any internships, research, or even a job involving French fries and overdone burgers.

So maybe I didn't find the cure for any rare genetic disorders or invent a life-changing device. I enjoyed myself, even when my face was melted to the carpet, and accomplished the following:

Read twenty and a third books for the first time and reread another dozen or so. It’s really not that impressive; about half of the rereads were kids books and the other half were young adult books that I was reading for the second . . . or third time. Highlights of my summer reading can be found in the post Summer Reading. Sometimes I astound even myself with my creativity. I also enjoyed Maphead by Ken Jennings, 74-time Jeopardy! champion; The Disappearing Spoon by Sam Kean; and A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson. Since The Disappearing Spoon tells lesser-known stories about the elements and Maphead and A Walk in the Woods deal with maps and the Appalachian Trail respectively, I consider that my chemistry, geography, and history for the summer. See, who says I didn't learn anything?

Successfully baked, by which I mean didn't burn the house down. Most recently, I made blueberry muffins with fresh Maine blueberries and chocolate/peanut butter chip cookie muffins. What exactly is a cookie muffin, you ask? A cookie muffin is a cookie baked in a muffin tin that tastes like a cookie while being shaped like a muffin. Basically, a not-flat cookie of less nutritional value than a muffin. Which is to say, the muffin is only in the name to let you trick yourself into eating them for breakfast.

Passed my driving test. While this may not sound like such a big deal, in the state that I live in, there is one maneuver that can singlehandedly sink your chances of getting your license, two words that will strike fear into the hearts of full-grown men: parallel parking.

Survived a week of VBS at my church. I helped out in the craft room and got to deal with up to twenty kids at once ranging from ages two to eleven (fortunately separated into age groups; we started the day with ages 9-11, then had 6-8, and so on). Yes, it was fun. Yes, it was also chaos.

Completed my cross stitch project. I will spare readers the details of the rest of the grievances I have against that particular project. In addition, I glued together a plastic model of a rocket ship that was unearthed when we were getting things together for a yard sale. We had tried to sell it before, but nobody was interested. Maybe because all the instructions were in Japanese. Fortunately, there were a lot of pictures, so I am now the owner of a blue plastic Japanese spaceship. And most importantly, I made myself a pep band folder (for my music) out of a sheet of paper and duck tape. It is orange with anthropomorphic food on it and I am completely satisfied with it.

Ran/biked seventy miles, which is somewhat short of my goal, but between those miles, walks around the neighborhood, and the hiking we did on vacation, I think I came pretty close to a hundred miles for the summer. The one redeeming factor of the pinkness of my bike is that because it’s supposed to be a mountain bike, the seat doesn't bruise all your lower organs for a week after you ride over a pothole.

And I am now in the process of packing all the things I unpacked three months ago so that I can reunpack them in a few days.

Road Tripping: Acadia National Park, Part 3

Again, if you missed them, here are part 1 and part 2. And here is the third and final installment, in which we do a little more hiking but also a lot of driving and some beachgoing. (If you can have beachgoers, there must be such a thing as beachgoing.)

For our last full day at Acadia, we planned to walk around Jordan Pond and do a quick hike up the South Bubble (a small mountain) to see Bubble Rock. We've done this pretty much every time we've been to Acadia, and it’s a nice way to spend a few hours. Spoiler alert: It didn't rain.

Jordan Pond.  The South Bubble is the mountain on the right.

Bubble Rock.  No, it will not fall over even if you push really hard.

After the walk, we had a late lunch at the Jordan Pond House. They make fantastic popovers (a kind of light muffin made from an egg batter) that they serve warm with butter and strawberry jam. Their jam is also really good. Most of the meals come with a popover, which we eat as an appetizer. For the main course, I ordered a salad. Normally, salad and I don’t get along for entire meals, because I think they either taste like nothing or dirt.

However, I will make exceptions for salads that don’t taste like nothing or dirt, which I've found is more likely to be the case when the salad greens don’t consist entirely of iceberg lettuce. So I ordered a cranberry walnut salad which included a variety of salad greens, a few apple slices, feta cheese, cranberries, walnuts, and a citrus vinaigrette. It was good, but it was also strategic planning so that I would still have stomach room for dessert. Dessert is my favorite meal of the day.

For dessert, I ended up getting ice cream made by the Jordan Pond House, one scoop of vanilla and one of blueberry. I should order dessert more often.

After that it was back to the campsite for a last night; in the morning we packed up the campsite and took a quick drive back up to Cadillac Mountain to take in the view. No fog this time:

Then it was back on the road to Portland for the night, and on to Ogunquit the next day for a little beachgoing. It was hot and sunny . . . and crowded. At this point, I’d like to officially cast my family vacation ballot for the mountains over the beach. Sand and waves are nice for a few hours, but for a whole week, give me dirt, rocks, and trees. Anyway, after our short beach stop, we headed for home, because there’s no place like home.

Back to School

[I have one more post about Acadia, but I actually am taking a quick break to bring you these short messages (see end of first Acadia post for reference).]

With students across the country returning to various learning establishments, I thought I would offer some thoughts about preparing for my second year of college. Note that any advice that I give should be read as a game of Two Truths and a Lie (or, more accurately, Seventeen Random Things in My Head and Maybe Something Vaguely Useful) and should be taken with a saltshaker. With that established, here are my very own Back to School tips.

Packing:
1. Bring extra socks. When I was applying to be a Cornell blogger, I was asked to write about my least favorite thing about Cornell.  I could have written about the frequently broken washers in the unfinished basement laundry room in my freshman dorm. Or engineers having to take English classes (kidding; I know learning to write good is important). Instead, I wrote about hiking in the rain three-quarters of a mile across campus to get to the engineering quad. Because sitting through lecture with wet socks is just that miserable.
2. Don’t forget your ID. On a similar trend of thought, try not to leave any chargers, necessary forms of identification, your toothbrush, or your favorite stuffed animal at home.

Physical preparation:
3. Work on your pencil grip. Whether your hand spent the summer curled around a computer mouse in your basement or a slightly illegal drink sipped slowly on a Caribbean beach, your fingers may have trouble forming the proper grip for things like writing. Muscle memory will eventually kick in, but help yourself out a little and practice making your o’s round. If you’re feeling especially ambitious, work on your cursive that you haven’t used since third grade.
4. Remind your body what weather at your college feels like. For example, Cornell students should strap on a backpack filled with ten pound weights and walk to work at a grocery store in snow boots and a trench coat, no matter the weather. They should work alternate days in the freezer section restocking milk and in the bakery loading and unloading the oven. While at work, wear a t-shirt, pants, and sneakers at all times. If frostbite is a danger, put on a sweatshirt.

Mental preparation:
5. Refresh your memory on what things like math and reading are. Start slowly, with simple addition facts and Dr. Seuss books, and work your way up to algebra and the middle school summer reading list.

Administrative details:
6. Now would be a good time to remind yourself when you’re returning to campus, when the dining halls will be open and/or how you’re going to feed yourself, and that you’re actually signed up for all the classes you should be.

And lastly:
7. Enjoy the rest of your summer. Your years of three month long summers are most likely numbered.

Road Tripping: Acadia National Park, Part 2

First things first: In case you missed it and want to read it, here’s part 1. In case you missed it and don’t want to read about all our enthralling adventures, here’s the summary: recently my family and I went camping at Acadia National Park. We also did some hiking.

Second things second: last time I mentioned the Park Loop Road. Acadia National Park is located on Mount Desert Island. On the eastern, more popular side of the island, there’s a road that loops around the park. It takes awhile to drive, but there are some great views. There are lots of rocks, and trees, and I guess the ocean’s pretty nice too.

I mean, it's not too bad.

How the Park Loop Road relates to my next story, I don’t know. Actually, I do know: it doesn't.

Anyway, our third day at the park, we wake up completely refreshed before the sun rises due to a bird that thinks it can sing (actually, one year it was doing something like a part of “The Star Spangled Banner” and this year it was kind of an “O Christmas Tree” knockoff). After breakfast, the morning mists and fog burn off, revealing a sparkling blue ocean and puffy white clouds in the sky. We decide to hike up Cadillac Mountain. By which I mean, my family agrees to hike up with me.

Since Cadillac Mountain is the highest mountain on the eastern coast, we've always gone to the top when we've visited Acadia. Every time before this trip, we drove. This time, we hiked. The trail we opted to do was the North Ridge trail, which was neither the steepest nor the longest, so it was an acceptable option to my parents. But the best laid plans of mice and men gang aft agley.

So, due to a lack of parking, we end up going up the Gorge trail instead of the North Ridge trail. The Gorge trail follows a stream up the valley between Cadillac and Dorr Mountain. You actually spend a good mile or so walking on rocks back and forth across the stream, then come out a little under the tree line and climb the rest of the way to the summit on granite. Right around the tree line, we notice it’s a little misty. In fact, we seem to be walking inside a cloud. No problem. Besides, I think it’s pretty cool.

After enjoying the views for awhile, we continue up Cadillac. It starts to drizzle, but that’s nothing we haven’t seen before. By the time we make it to the summit of Cadillac, the rain is coming down steadily and the mist/fog/cloud is thick enough to obscure any views of the surrounding mountains and the ocean, so we make a run for the gift shop.

And then, it starts pouring. So we’re stuck at the top of Cadillac Mountain and it is, once again, pouring buckets outside. To conclude this story, we ended up waiting around awhile, then buying various ponchos and jackets to brave the rain. For the record, I had brought up my own jacket, and so was prepared for the possibility of hiking in the rain. Plus I had my water-resistant stain-resistant UV-protective hiking shorts on. Note to expensive specialty retailers: you have a much better chance of getting my parents’ money with items at reduced prices and on sale. Just something to consider.

Back to Facing the Rain: A Story of Determination, Danger, and A Lot of Rain on Maine’s Cadillac Mountain. As planned, we went down the North Ridge trail, which was less steep than the Gorge trail. After making it back to the trailhead, we finished with a walk down the road to the van, where we took off our wet jackets and wrung out our socks. After that, we made a quick stop at the beach for some late afternoon tanning a snack and to change out of our wettest clothing.

And that is the story of the time we decided to hike up Cadillac Mountain. Here are some pictures to finish:

The trail follows the rocks to the left of the picture.

So it was a little wet on the way down. . . .

And then it cleared up . . . a little . . . at the end.

Road Tripping: Acadia National Park, Part 1

This year for our family vacation, we packed up the van and drove up to Acadia National Park in Maine for about a week, during which it rained almost every day. It was great.

The first full day we were there, it was pouring buckets when we woke up. This is different from pouring cats and dogs, because there were no animals falling from the sky, and is also different from raining sheets, because there was no bed linen landing on us. Anyway, since it was so wet and we were tent camping, not parked at a campsite in an RV, we elected to drive into Ellsworth for breakfast. After a high-class meal, we did some luxury shopping. Yes, we went to McDonald’s and Wal-Mart. And not just any Wal-Mart. This was a Wal-Mart supercenter.

We spent the rest of the morning doing some shopping, had a late lunch at a Thai restaurant, then drove into Acadia. It was a great beach day.

As long as you weren't planning on swimming, lying in the sun, or gazing out at the ocean views.

It really was a good day to visit Thunder Hole, due to the combination of the incoming tide and relatively high surf. The way Thunder Hole works is that there’s a narrow channel of rock that ends in a hollow rock chamber. When water runs down this channel fast enough, it crashes into the hollow chamber, making, in theory, a loud thundering sound accompanied by lots of water flying everywhere. In reality, when we've been before, even with the tide coming in, Thunder Hole gurgles and splashes. This time, there was actual thundering, albeit somewhat quiet thundering.

The next day, we took the morning to dry out and move our campsite after another damp night. In the afternoon, we went back into the park to do a quick hike up Day Mountain followed by a walk around Eagle Lake. We hadn't done either of these hikes before, but last time we were at Acadia, we picked up a fairly comprehensive trail book. It’s a nice resource because it not only describes (almost?) all of the hikes at Acadia, but also gives distances to landmarks and trail intersections and a height profile which shows where the steepest parts of the trail are located.

It allowed us to find some lesser known hikes, such as the Day Mountain and Eagle Lake trails. We ended up only doing the beginning of the Day Mountain trail, but got some decent views for a short hike. After driving further down the Park Loop Road (more on that later), we walked to the trailhead of the Eagle Lake trail. We started on the east side of the lake, where the trail follows the shoreline of Eagle Lake closely. That’s where you get the best views of the lake.

That’s also where there’s the most mud, because you’re so close to the shoreline. I enjoyed it thoroughly, mud puddles and all. Especially mud puddles and all.

Starting out, we knew it was already kind of late in the afternoon, so the plan was to hike out on the trail for awhile, then turn back and retrace our steps. Which we would have done even if we went to the end of the trail, but this way we could decide how long we wanted the hike to be. We ended up rounding the southern end of the lake, then walking a little bit up the western shore. At this point, the trail moved further inland, so we turned back and made our way back to the campground for a dinner-snack.

Still to come: more rain, more hiking, more fun, and even more rain. Don’t go away; we’ll be right back after these messages.

Summer Reading

Last year, my summer reading assignment was The Life Before Us. It was the lowlight of all the books I read during the entire summer, which is to say, it was terrible. From what I can remember, the book is about a fat woman who takes care of prostitutes’ children, one of whom is Momo, who spends most of the book running around the street unattended and/or crying. I’m sure that’s pretty accurate.

This summer, I have been freed from mandatory summer reading for the first time in five years. I don't have anything against the concept of summer reading, but I have read some pretty bad summer reading books, including The Bell Jar, The Natural, Feed, and of course, The Life Before Us. The Natural could have been a decent book, but Roy Hobbes was, quite frankly, a jerk. As for Feed, I understand what the author was trying to do and why he wrote the book the way he did, but it was like, meg null, unit.

What I have been reading generally falls into one of three categories: science fiction, young adult fiction, and nonfiction. Yes, I still read books from the young adult section because at the moment, I’m not interested in reading anything titled First Love at Midnight on a Moon-Speckled Beach in Summer or A Man Sits in a Boat Trying to Catch a Fish for Five Hundred Pages, uh, I mean, The Old Man and the Sea.

To prove that I don’t think all books are awful, I will now rave about the wonders of Twilight.

Just kidding. I haven’t read Twilight.

I did, however, read the Hunger Games trilogy, which I enjoyed. In my opinion, The Hunger Games had the best story, though Catching Fire was the most well written (in terms of character development, plot twists, etc.). Mockingjay was still good, but the ending left some loose ends, was kind of abrupt, and had more than a few unnecessary events. Also, there were about four too many variations of “I (Katniss) left my house and then I passed out, and when I woke up there were lots of tubes in my arm, which I yanked out so I passed out again.”

I also got through Rama II, which is the second of four books about giant alien spaceships passing through the solar system. This is probably one of those science fiction books that you have to be a science fiction fan in order to read, because along with the questions about alien life and sentience, there are the mandatory pages and pages describing scientific protocols, crew dynamics, and the alien spaceship itself. Let’s just say I’m a science fiction fan.

And in the nonfiction category, among other books, I read October Sky, which was originally called Rocket Boys until the movie came out. In summary, in the book, Homer Hickham writes about how he and his friends built and tested rockets around the Cold War era, inspired by the launch of Sputnik. As always, the book had a lot more detail than the movie, and it was interesting to read about life in their small town in between rocket successes and failures. Apparently you can get towed behind cars by grabbing on to their back bumpers while on a sled (in the snow). . . . Don’t worry; Cornell only encourages sledding at the Plantations. And no, I’m not currently building any rockets.