Matt’s Blog

This Thanksgiving I traveled all the way from Seattle to Atlanta (again) to, among other things, attend the best college football rivalry game in the country; the Georgia Tech vs. U(sic)GA game. This year the game was the first and only GT game that I attended at Bobby Dodd stadium (readers will recall that I also saw the team play in person at Vanderbilt) and unless you have had your head under a rock for the past few days you probably also know that the game did not go well for us.

Now I don’t really know what qualifies a game as “rough” but here’s what made the game last Saturday rough for the GT faithful. First, we hate UGA. Good, clean hate mind you but hate none the less. Perhaps it’s because most of their fans didn’t even go to the school, and cheer for them because they win a lot and make an easy team to root for. Perhaps it’s because they usually beat us in football. Perhaps it’s because their football players and mascot tear up our field in front of our fans when they win. Whatever. We just don’t like them at all and losing to them only makes that worse. Second, we were actually good this year. Although I’ll admit that I thought the ranking in the top 10 was a bit optimistic, I really do think that we’ve done a good job this year. And in years past when the roles were reversed and U(sic)GA was on top we got trounced. Any of those years we would have loved to play the spoiler to U(sic)GA’s otherwise great season. Why then on the one rare occasion where the roles are reversed are we the ones who provide redemption for our rival’s otherwise mediocre season? Third, the game was so close. Although we were trailing pretty much the entire time, we were always within striking distance. And except for a brief period in the second quarter we had plenty of offensive momentum. This means that for pretty much the entire game we were all on the edge of our seats screaming our heads off hoping that we would take the lead. Right up to the very end. Let me tell you how much fun it was to wake up the next day, unable to speak in anything above a raspy whisper and remember: “oh yeah, we lost to Georgia last night, sweet.” And finally, on the topic of that period in the second quarter, it wouldn’t be a game against the dawgs without a little “coincidence.” How fortuitous that the first play immediately following our recovery of a U(sic)GA fumble for the go-ahead touchdown our star quarterback goes down with a twisted ankle…

Phew, now that’s out of my system.

The rest of the trip was great. I had a great time with friends and like every time I go back I left wondering why I moved so far away. Also, this might sound dumb, but this was the first trip where I realized that I’m really not in college anymore. For the game I was standing with my fraternity just like the old days, except that it wasn’t. Most of my close friends have graduated and in their places are all these new guys who I don’t know. Even those guys that I do know are getting ready to move on to grad school and other things. So the limited connection that I do have there will soon be gone. Even just being around the house or on campus was interesting. For the first time ever I felt more at home at the alumni tailgate then I did anywhere else.

But then, what are my alternatives? I don’t really feel old enough to move to the alumni sections for the games. I mean who really wants to sit through a football game? If I wanted to sit then I’d just stay home where I can camp out on the couch and drink beer that didn’t cost eight dollars a bottle. This might not have been all that bad of an idea given the outcome of the game… Anyways the trip was great and the times were good. So I can’t really complain all that much, even if I’m becoming one of the “old guys.” I’m just not there yet.

So, it occurred to me that recently there’s been a pretty high word-to-picture ratio going on around here. That’s fine, words are good and quite entertaining when properly applied; however, preliminary research suggests that there is a strong correlation between the word-picture ratio and the douchey-funny ratio. I’ve dubbed this concept the “Butters principle.” Now, clearly, we can’t have the D-F ratio rising too high around here which means: It’s time for some images! Fortunately I did some image-worthy things last weekend.

Most anyone who’s known me for a while can tell you: I love GT football. This is why last weekend I flew all the way from Seattle to Nashville to watch Georgia Tech play Vanderbilt. Well, that and to spend time with some of my closest friends from college… but mostly to watch football. Um…. let’s call it a 55/45 football/friends split. Anyways, here are some of the reasons I love going to GT football games:

The Stadium Atmosphere

This season I’ve mostly been watching our games on ESPN 360 which is neat, but not the same experience as actually being at a game. There’s just not that excitement/energy level. Of course you might argue that going to a live game at Vanderbilt is pretty much the same thing as watching it on TV, but whatever.

Friends

I have some of the best friends in the world. Many of whom also cheer for Georgia Tech, which is actually a pretty important requirement for friendship with me. Just kidding, but no… really. Of course some of my friends look better than others. No offense Dustin

Paul Johnson

I’ve previously written about why I love our coach. But this season in particular I’ve gained new respect because a 4-quarter application of PJ usually results in…

Winning

I’ve already booked my tickets for the GT/UGA game and I cannot wait. Go Jackets, Fight, Win!

Enough said:

Theta Xi Front Porch Swing

Why I Like It:

One of the great benefits of living in the south is that nearly every house has a front porch. And, even better, many of those porches have swings. The relatively moderate weather in the southeast makes a porch swing something that can be enjoyed nearly year round. A blanket will keep you warm in the winter, and the swinging motion will create a refreshing breeze on even the hottest summer day. The swing on the porch in front of Theta Xi is a great place to sit and sip on a cold drink while watching the world go by.

What Happened There:

I’ve spent countless hours studying, thinking, or just talking with friends on the front porch swing. It also makes for a phenomenal place to end a date. I’m hesitant to mention it, but the swing is one of the main reasons I joined Theta Xi in the first place. My favorite times on the swing by far happened in the early morning when I would take Swat (our house dog) out front to frolic in the yard while I had some quiet Bible study.

Stone Mountain

Why I Like It:

While it’s not much to look at, and certainly nothing compared with the mountains in Colorado, Stone Mountain will always have a special place in my heart. It’s only a short hike to the top, but since it’s the highest point for many miles you can see forever (the picture above does not do it justice). There’s a cool breeze at the top as a reward for the sweaty hike up.

What Happened There:

I’ve had lunch, played frisbee, and enjoyed the sunset all atop Stone Mountain. The park surrounding the rock is itself something to behold as well, a beautiful oasis of nature in the middle of the Atlanta metro area. When I was younger I used to spend mornings at the park on the weekends making a few extra dollars cleaning up the lawn where they put on the laser show. The only thing I regret missing is the Easter morning sunrise service at the summit.

Mellow Mushroom Patio

Sadly I don’t have a picture from here.

Why I Like It:

Mellow Mushroom is home to some of the best pizza in Atlanta, just shy of Everybody’s. But the patio is what puts Mellow Mushroom over the top. The Mellow Mushroom on Peachtree Street just north of I-85 has a great outdoor eating area shaded by leafy trees and lit by strings of outdoor lights. It’s close enough to Peachtree that you can watch the world go by, but not so close that you are overly distracted by it.

What Happened There:

During the summer of 2007 my fraternity little brother Devin and I were both working in Atlanta and started a tradition of eating at Mellow Mushroom every Monday evening. We called the event Mellow Mushroom Monday or MMM for short. As in, mmm… that’s good pizza! We would head there in the late afternoon after work and hang out watching the sun set and the world go by while we enjoyed a large House Special pizza. During that summer we got to chat about life, work, cars and sometimes girls. It was a great time. Sadly after that summer I only made it back to Mellow Mushroom a few times but, when I did, I was reminded of all those MMM’s Devin and I shared.

Buckhead Church

Why I Like It:

Where to begin… I started attending Buckhead when I was a freshman at Tech and have made so many good memories and friends there since. As I have grown and changed in the intervening years, so has the church. We’ve moved from a small retrofit grocery store on Roswell road to a brand new facility at Tower Place. Pictured above is my favorite place in the new church building, the KidStuf Volunteer lounge. Although the rest of the building is often bustling and busy all Sunday, this room is usually quiet and a good place to get away for a moment of quiet reflection. Plus it has a fantastic view of Buckhead.

What Happened There:

Mission trips, worship, learning, service, friendship… there are too many memories here for me to put them all down. I’ve served in the family ministry (KidStuf) and in the main service on the production team, and in doing so I’ve had the opportunity to meet and work with some great people. I’ve attended the College Ministry where I got to know some of my best friends and certainly ate my fair share of free food. I’ve been challenged by the weekly messages and teaching in the main service. But perhaps the most personally meaningful happening for me was the weekly meeting of my small group, a group of guys with whom I grew quite close to after two years of challenge and accountability as we “did life” together.

Midtown Jason’s Deli Patio

Why I Like It:

Jason’s Deli has to be one of my favorite restaurants of all time. Seriously where else can you get so much good, healthy food for so cheap? Between the sandwiches, pasta, and my favorites the chili and baked potato I never ran out of tasty options there. Not to mention the salad bar. Now that alone would put all Jason’s Delis on the list, but what sets the Jason’s in midtown Atlanta apart is it’s unbelievably awesome second floor patio. With views of the skyline that are fantastic day or night and a busy, interesting street below eating there was always an enjoyable experience. Add the free soft-serve ice cream afterward and there is literally no way you cannot like this place.

What Happened There:

While I ate hunger into submission there too many times for me to count, there are several Jason’s experiences that are particularly memorable. I loved going there after church on Sunday with friends as a prelude to an afternoon of hanging out at Piedmont Park only a couple blocks away. In 2009 I spent my entire spring break in my room hammering out the bulk of my thesis. Jason’s was a great place for me to get away from it all for an hour or so and enjoy some good food and fresh air. Other times I would take a good book and read for a few hours while enjoying unlimited iced tea. I was a big fan of reading C.S. Lewis there (I even called the meals “C.S. Lewis dates”), so much so that now whenever I read Lewis I get a strange craving for baked potato and salad. But perhaps my favorite times at Jason’s were actually had at the Tower Place location where the guys from my small group were repeatedly forced by me to go gladly and enthusastically went after our Monday night meetings. I think there’s something special about bonding with great friends over good food, and those times certainly qualified. They will certainly be missed.

The Thinking Spot

Why I Like It:

I discovered what became known as “the thinking spot” when a fraternity brother took a few of us there one afternoon. With the possible exception of the roof of the Civil Engineering building, this spot has the best view of Atlanta I’ve ever seen. And unlike the CE building no keys are required to get in. Any time of the year you could go here at night for a spectacular view of downtown and midtown Atlanta. The spot was relatively secluded, which made it great for just sitting and thinking or praying. Many of my friends upon introduction to the place promptly christened it the “make-out spot” and although I agree that it would be fantastic for that purpose, I wouldn’t know So the place will, for now, remain for me: the thinking spot.

What Happened There:

Since discovering the spot almost every major decision I’ve made has spent some time there. The thinking spot has seen the beginning of a lot of relationships, and even the end of some. I’ve been there alone for quiet reflection and prayer, or personal celebration. It was here I decided that I didn’t want to pursue a career in Civil Engineering, and here also that I went many subsequent times to ask God for new direction and revelation. After many frustrating days, I’ve found my sanity here. And after many great joys I’ve thanked God for his blessings here. But my favorite times were when I got to share this wonderful place with friends. Often times a group of us would grab dinner or a couple of beers (or both) and sit and talk for hours enjoying the sights and some good music.

I stop short of saying this is my most favorite place in Atlanta, only because there are so many good things about all the places I’ve been, and even more about the places that I’ve forgotten. But the thinking spot is definitely the place with the strongest emotional ties, and so it seems fitting that it’s the final place on my list. Atlanta was a great home for 6 years and although I miss it, hopefully before long I‘ll be writing all about my favorite places in Seattle.

So after a marathon effort over the weekend and early into Monday morning, I have finally finished my thesis!

The following policies governing work are going into immediate effect:

• I am no longer working past 6 PM in the evening.
• I will no longer work on Sundays (or Saturdays… probably).
• I will no longer stay up working until 4, 6, or 7 AM and only get 3-4 hours of sleep.
• I will no longer be completely mentally and physically exhausted.

I can confidently say that the completion of my thesis represents the most effort that I have ever put into a single task that I can ever remember. While the data collection effort and experimentation started two years ago, the bulk of the written work was carried out this semester. I started creating bits and pieces at the start of this semester, but it wasn’t until spring break that writing began in earnest. I spent the vast majority of that week (3/16-3/20) tied to my computer hammering out section after section. I constructed the initial draft the following week and got it into the hands of my advisor for initial comments. While he was looking at it I continued work, adding sections and additional analysis, up through Thursday (3/26) when I sent out the “final” draft for comments to my advisor and to the proof-reading committee I had drafted conscripted asked nicely to help out.

What amazed me through the latter part of the effort was the shear size of the work. When I had combined all the individual sections into one the document was nearly 200 pages long and contained close to 35,000 words. This made some things interesting. For example, the process of going through the document with spellcheck could take several minutes to complete.

I didn’t get comments back from my advisor until Saturday night, and only for the first two-thirds of the paper. Combined with the changes I was getting from my proof-reading committee at times it felt like I was completely re-writing entire pages of the document. Work continued through Sunday, something I usually try to avoid, and after a late-afternoon meeting I had the final comments in hand to respond to. Those corrections, and the miscellaneous clean-up tasks to get the document formatted for submission (no small task given the size of the document) kept me up until 4 AM Monday morning (4/6). The next morning, after gathering signatures and submitting the approval form and the thesis itself, I was done.

The arrival at “done” is, frankly, rather abrupt. It’s as if I’ve gone from working at 100 miles per hour to 8. This will take a while to sink in, the idea that I can go home after class or working in the lab, or even *gasp* take an entire day off to do nothing. Actually, after months of nagging concern that I need to be working on some aspect of the thesis I seem to have developed a bit of a habit. It will take a while for me to be able to look at a calendar and not try to figure out how many more days I have to work until my thesis is due.

I still do have things to do, but nothing even close to the magnitude of what I’ve been doing for the past several weeks. I hope to get the rest of my outstanding class work done this week actually, and the Cobb County report can easily be handled during normal working hours.

Anyways, it’s done. I keep saying that to myself, it just sounds so… wonderful. Once it gets posted to oscar I’m going to Taco Mac for drinks. But now, I’m just ready to start feeling human again.

“Piled Higher and Deeper” by Jorge Cham (www.phdcomics.com)

So after a long week of work I’ve finally got the rough draft of my thesis in for comments. Although the actual document only took a week or two to write, it’s scary to think of all the work that went into the generation of the conclusions. I’ve been working on this project for almost three years. All of that has now been distilled down to one document. Granted, it’s a pretty big document, but still.

Now I await comments from my advisor, then the thesis committee. The revision process should run no longer than a week, then things get wrapped up and the final copy is due in on April 6.

I’ve been pretty focused the past few weeks getting this done, so I hope that I can return to a somewhat normal schedule after that.

Ok I lied, as I was driving home from the lab where I posted that last video and claimed that I didn’t have time or energy for proper writing I got to thinking and now I actually have something to write.

But before that. Apparently the left turn signal in the ol’ Rodeo has given out. Now instead of activating the signal there’s just this annoying buzzing. I’d fix it immediately, but the sound coming from the relay seems to be somewhere deep in the dashboard which probably means the fix won’t be easy or fast which means it probably won’t be happening anytime in the immediate future. I can sometimes finagle it to work (oh the joys of older cars) but for the most part the only legal direction I can turn is to the right… So clearly the conclusion here is that both in old cars and in politics you could say that going to the left too much causes things to break… har har.

Anyways, so as I drove home from yet another late night in the lab I was thinking of people (out of state friends and family and such) I had neglected to call/e-mail over the past few months, and mentally rehearsing what I would say to them to excuse the fact that I was so tardy in contacting them. The funny thing was that in almost every case this was not the first time that I had let a long time go between points of contact and that my excuse was the same one I always go to in that situation: “Sorry, but I’ve been totally slammed with work.” Which got me thinking…

When have I not been slammed with work?

The obvious implication here is that the amount of work I’m experiencing is uncharacteristically high, and that’s why I haven’t called. But it would seem that if the workload is constantly high then me being slammed is not all that abnormal, and should probably be expected. As I considered further I realized that I wasn’t all that busy and that I, along with many other people I know, just use that as an excuse to get out of the guilt of ignoring someone who we wanted to contact. After all, saying “Oh I’m sorry I haven’t called, I was just playing Halo and screwing around on Facebook all night” doesn’t have quite the same legitimacy as “I was studying cures for cancer in the lab all night.”

Not to say that I don’t have a lot of work to do sometimes. But I have this belief that college students (myself included) have awfully inefficient work habits and take weeks do to what could be done in days. This, coupled with high expectations for the amount of communication there will be will have with remote friends and family makes for constant “busy-ness” as an excuse for lack of quality conversation time.

So I have two conclusions from this:

1. Don’t expect to have more contact with remote friends and family than is reasonable. Stop making excuses for why you chose to go get shakes with the guys after the chapter meeting instead of calling that friend you’ve been meaning too.
2. Work harder and use profitablly the free time that hard work creates.

Now it’s time to make a wise choice with my time and go to sleep.

No, actually 7 minutes...

So recently Atlanta Gas Light arrived at Tech to replace some of the pipelines on campus. No problem there, I like new pipes. I don’t even mind when they have to dig up the street to put the new pipes in place. Usually things are slow on campus during the summer with most of the people gone for vari- Oh wait, it’s not summer anymore is it?

Rewinding a bit… I knew something was going down when the Department of “Parking” and “Transportation” put a bunch of no parking signs out on Techwood (which is one of the main thoroughfares on campus for those who don’t know) about two weeks before school started. I noticed that the signs indicated that the work was to start around the same time as both freshman move-in and greek work week. Although I know the work had to be done sometime, and I can imagine that AGL could reason that they didn’t know when school starts (although it only took me three clicks to get from http://www.gatech.edu to http://www.registrar.gatech.edu/home/calendar/2008/fall/official.php), I can’t imagine a worse time to be closing one of the major streets on campus, and one critical to freshman move-in no less.

But what really gets me is how the Department of “Parking” and “Transportation” takes down the parking restricted signs last week, allowing the street to fill up with the cars that were quadruple-parked in my usual parking lot, even though the work hasn’t been completed yet. Then when, inevitably, the contractors show up to continue work with heavy equipment and welding torches (all inches away from student’s parked cars) the Department of “Parking” and “Transportation” shows up (several hours late no less) to replace the no parking signs. I’m surprised they didn’t immediately ticket and tow…

But what would any slight alteration in the campus roadway network be without a STINGER FEST!!!

Red Route Stinger #1 closely (as in immediately) followed by...

...Red Route Stingers #2 and #3

I’m writing this as I sit uncomfortably folded into a seat on a Delta jet on my way back from my quick end-of-summer vacation to CO. Normally I don’t like writing these reflection on life things, but I have nothing better to do.

I think that one of the things that make college (grad school included) so tumultuous is the near constant change. Friends move in and move out, jobs come and go, classes change, projects are completed, football coaches are paid entirely too much money to move on… you get the idea.

And now we’re in a season of change again. I know that summer isn’t quite over yet, but with school starting next Monday it might as well be. I stopped work at Kimley-Horn last Friday to give myself a week to do some traveling (Colorado and Nashville) and to catch up on rest while transitioning back to school. I stopped working at Kimley-Horn last Friday to give me a week off to transition back to school because if there’s one thing I’ve learned about change it’s that you shouldn’t try to cram it into a short period if at all avoidable. I had a great time at KHA this summer, although the biggest lesson I would take away is that you should never try to balance two high-energy jobs at the same time. Not that I really had a choice (stupid City Planning degree requirements), but working at KHA and at GT really took it out of me. I always found myself at one job thinking about the requirements of the other. Add to this the desire I had to maintain my “social life” and I found myself constantly conflicted about how to spend my time.

This next semester won’t be much easier as I will be replacing KHA with class. I’ve decided that I really *really* want to be done with the program by the end of spring, which means I need to focus a lot of energy on those class credits and my thesis this semester.

Anyways, I digress. I got to spend a lot of time with friends this summer, which I enjoyed. I wish that the ones who are moving away for school and such weren’t, but I don’t really have any control over that do I?

My visit home was great. I’m amazed at how many things have changed there. Loveland seems like an entirely different town these days. Even Mountain View has changed significantly. They finished the new classroom wing and the auditorium. It’s starting to look like a real High School now.

Yeah, so this has been a rather random post, but the bottom line is I’m excited to be getting back to GA and getting back to the whole routine. Football season is rapidly approaching, but that’s a topic for another time…