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diff --git a/docs/umich/w24_wrapup.md b/docs/umich/w24_wrapup.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..0f20d0f --- /dev/null +++ b/docs/umich/w24_wrapup.md @@ -0,0 +1,195 @@ +# Winter 2024 wrapup + +2024-05-05 + +My second semester at UMich is just over, and I will recount major things +that happened. I will continuously update this blogpost. + +## Course reviews + +The biggest mistake that I made is that I elected three EECS courses, two +of which are extra heavy in workload. The rest are not trivial either. It +is impossible to cover all of them in one single blogpost, so I will split +them up into individual articles, listed below. + +- [EECS 482, Intro to OS](w24_482.md) +- [EECS 373, Intro to Embedded System Design](w24_373.md) +- [EECS 311, Analog Circuits](w24_311.md) +- [GERMAN 386, Fairy Tales](w24_fairy.md) +- Other courses WIP + +## Notable material gains + +- A 20 oz thermo flask, as a gift from the School of Information for + participating in the 10-week accessibility challenge last semester +- A bicycle, as described in [2024-04-05](../random/2024-04-05.md). Easily + the best investment this semester. +- A MIDI keyboard (AKAI MPK mini play) with which I made a few loops +- A MCR-themed zine I took at the Duderstadt gallery (it said "take one") +- Two CDs: Blurryface (2015) and Scaled And Icy (2021). + +More on the CDs: Blurryface is for myself, SAI is for a friend. I rode +downtown to four record stores in one day and bought them in the third and +fourth, respectively. The first store had SAI listed online, but they sold +out recently. The second store sold mostly vinyls. In both the third and +fourth, I took the last tøp CD in stock, so I can't really blame the +person who did it in the first store. + +The four stores are + +- Your Media Exchange, 319 S Main St +- Underground Sounds, 120 E Washington St +- Encore Records, 208 N 4th Ave +- Wazoo Records, 336 S State St + +All in downtown Ann Arbor. I've been to YMX last year, and I found some +rare items in the tøp vinyl section like the Location Sessions for record +day. I don't have a turntable, so I left them for people who do. This time +it's gone, along with many more. Whoever bought them has great taste. + +## Notable losses + +- My sanity over the 373 project + +## Notable expenditures + +- $39 for the MIDI keyboard (I outbid a swarm of ebay bots by one second) +- $512 for the Boston trip +- $90 for the bicycle +- $187 for a ticket to tøp's Clancy Tour (ffs fbr) + +## Notable experiences + +- I visited my friend in Boston over spring break. + - I saw The Museum of Fine Arts + - I saw The Museum of Bad Art + - By law of the excluded middle, I saw all art in existence + - I took a lecture on Chinese policy at Harvard + - I took a lecture on computer systems in the auditorium by the + so-called Banana Lounge at MIT + - I took the MBTA subway + - I saw a weird MIT exhibit with a bunch of glass, lamps, and wood + rescued from a bathhouse on fire + - I went to the MIT museum + - I talked with W1ATO over the W1XM repeater + - I went to the Harvard art museums is basically a tub for rich people + to dump their art in and as an excuse to exhibit stolen shit + +Quiz time! + +Which two of these paintings are from the Museum of Bad Art, and which two +are from the Harvard art museums? + + + +<details markdown="1"> +<summary>Click to show the answer!</summary> +1, 4: Museum of Bad Art + +2, 3: Harvard art museums +</details> + +- I went to an iDKHOW show in Detroit, as described in + [2024-04-05](../random/2024-04-05.md). + + + +- I watched the eclipse (98% partial in Ann Arbor) + + + +For the folks without eclipse lenses, here's a reenactment: + + + +- Except for two occasions, I participated in the W8UM/R Sunday net every + week, getting to know AC8TO, KE8BZJ, W8EMV, and KB6NU. Also I love our + net control WD4DSR. +- Attended a W8UM monthly meeting (though one hour late and didn't get any + pizza) and met AC8TO in person +- Saw a crime drama play called Trojan Horse. My friend played a role who + died for the most of the play +- Applied for IA of 370 and 373 next semester +- Cracked open a beer, which I just finished as I write this. The cashier + typed a "1" into the YYYY field on the auto checkout before realizing + (1) I was born 2003 and (2) aging is inevitable + +## Things unrelated to coursework that made my day worse + +I received the prize money for last semester's GERMAN 103 roleplay. +Instead of $200 per group, it was $200 per person. But it went straight to +my direct deposit and was split to two parts: + +- $172 to repay my "financial aid" +- $28 in federal tax + +It pisses me off that I worked so hard on a roleplay just for the prize +money to fund genocide. + +## Things unrelated to coursework that made my day better + +Last year I signed up for [Kristin Henry's Stickers and Stamps +project](https://kristinhenry.medium.com/stickers-and-stamps-a-bright-spot-in-2020-d3011afefa09). +It took months, but I finally received their letter in the mail. Enclosed +is a sticker, a handwritten postcard, and a stamped envelope for me to +return something in. So I handwrote a brief letter a few days later and +sent it to Kristin. + +It was the second time I physically put something in a US mailbox. The +first time was when I had to send form 8843 to the IRS to prove that I had +zero income last year. + +Cool find at the 373 lab: a vintage Fluke 77 multimeter. + + + +## Albums discovered + +I spent the entire semester listening to Radiohead, all thanks to [a meme +video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2KGRvIFrF3c). + +- _The Bends_ (1994) + - Favorite tracks: + - Fake Plastic Trees + - Street Spirit +- _OK Computer_ (1997) + - Paranoid Android + - Let Down +- _Kid A_ (2000) + - Everything In Its Right Place + - The National Anthem + - Idioteque +- _Amnesiac_ (2001) + - Pyramid Song + - Life In a Glasshouse +- _In Rainbows_ (2007) + - Weird Fishes + - Videotape + +And if you stretch the definition of "discover", I discovered _Clancy_ +(2024). + +## Interesting food in the dining hall + +Both of these were found in Bursley: + +- Blueberry pizza (pretty good actually) + + + +- Gummyworm cake (it tastes exactly what it looks like) + + + +## Funny car plates + +- NYANKO +- UWU 55 +- B1GENUF (on a mini) +- QING1SE (清一色) |