In N2. The Water Planet Professor Akayama, having been merged with the Hurricane Planet, is forced to construct a life-supporting world so the Hurricane can play God. She tries to reclaim her individuality by telling the Hurricane to let her work on the planet in person, and she kind of gets her wish when the Hurricane duplicates her and lets one of her copies leave.
I’ve already talked about mind-merging robots, so I won’t talk about that again, and I’m planning to talk about the religious connotation of building a life-supporting planet later, so I’d might as well make this commentary a blog post, like a diary entry.
I’ve been busy lately. I’m only taking thirteen units of classes at University, but I’m also crashing some classes, joining some clubs, and volunteering to write software for organizations on campus, so academically speaking I’ve got a lot on my plate. The biggest source of stress is my upcoming GRE Math subject test, which is the day after this commentary comes out, so you can see why I’m half-assing it this week.
At the same time I’m applying to graduate programs in data science. Applying itself isn’t too stressful—I can apply to one a day no problem, and I have lots of interesting experience to write about in my applications—but the idea of applying to schools hangs over me like a dark miasma. Will I be accepted to any of them? Will my recommendation letters come in on time? Will my GRE scores impress? Do I have enough professional experience to go to school to get the degree I need to get enough professional experience to go to school to get the degree?
Anyway, I’m also trying to get back into long distance running. I used to run marathons, and now I’m almost having trouble believing it. I can run for miles on flats, and I can walk uphill without panting, but a sense of nausea seems to be limiting me. I’ve put on a little weight, but last time I ran a marathon I was 160 pounds, and now I’m only 165. My body-fat percentage has increased to around 20%, though, whereas at one point I think 90% of my weight was quadriceps and calves.
That’s about all the interesting stuff I’m doing. I’ll see you next week, when Akayama works on her watery planet.
Ted Writes 