Okay, so, quick question--

for a person who is absolutely AWFUL at non-linear mathematics and calculus, out of the following, which would be easier for such a person (i.e. me):

a)  Math 1A  (Calculus)
OR
b) Math 16A (Analytic Geometry and Calculus)?

because i'm guessing that Math 16A is slightly less difficult than Math 1A (based on the credits awarded for both courses).

but really, i'm totally not a mathematics-type person.  so, based on your own experiences (if you are/were a similar person), which is easier out of the two?

I was way better at geometry than calculus.  then again, analytic geometry could actually be a bajillion times more difficult than calculus...  i honestly have no idea what to expect of the two courses.  again, any help offered greatly appreciated.

so, I'm about a week away from my set CalSO date and FREAKING THE HECK OUT after checking out the orienteering site extensively and realizing that, though i'm not in the last CalSO date, a TON of classes (that are pre-requisites for my major) are already full.

and then, there's a small hope when I see "currently not open"-- though I'm not particularly sure what that means.

anyway, everyone I know is telling me to "chill" out and relax because they (being, the counselors or advisors or whatever they call them in uni) wouldn't totally abandon people who are in later CalSO's, but... I'm super apprehensive that I'll be stuck with a schedule full of electives my first semester in.

should i freak out?

I'm particularly anxious because I'm planning on going abroad for half of next year (Summer and Fall 2009), and would need to figure out how to take the courses I'd have had to take during Fall of 2009 another time (preferrably earlier).

are any other freshmen who have a later CalSO date stressing as well?
and, to you upperclassmen, is this panic warranted?  Or, will things (via the advisors) just work themselves out?

I'm so used to scheduling everything myself that simply putting trust in others (even professionals) makes me anxious.  and worried like crazy.

then again, I'm a bit of a control freak.  *ahem*  anyway.  any help/advice/opinions on this topic would be super appreciated.

luckily, i've already satisfied a great majority of degree requirements, i'm just mostly concerned about the pre-reqs for majors.

Thanks again...  And hopefully see you soon?  : ]

New York Times had a great front page article today that directly relates to changes UC Berkeley has seen in the last 50 years. The ’60s Begin to Fade as Liberal Professors Retire by Patricia Cohen:

Together, these Midwestern academics, one leaving the professoriate and another working her way up, are part of a vast generational change that is likely to profoundly alter the culture at American universities and colleges over the next decade.

Baby boomers, hired in large numbers during a huge expansion in higher education that continued into the ’70s, are being replaced by younger professors who many of the nearly 50 academics interviewed by The New York Times believe are different from their predecessors — less ideologically polarized and more politically moderate.

[...]

Yet already there are signs that the intense passions and polemics that roiled campuses during the past couple of decades have begun to fade. At Stanford a divided anthropology department reunited last year after a bitter split in 1998 broke it into two entities, one focusing on culture, the other on biology. At Amherst, where military recruiters were kicked out in 1987, students crammed into a lecture hall this year to listen as alumni who served in Iraq urged them to join the military.

In general, information on professors’ political and ideological leanings tends to be scarce. But a new study of the social and political views of American professors by Neil Gross at the University of British Columbia and Solon Simmons at George Mason University found that the notion of a generational divide is more than a glancing impression. “Self-described liberals are most common within the ranks of those professors aged 50-64, who were teenagers or young adults in the 1960s,” they wrote, making up just under 50 percent. At the same time, the youngest group, ages 26 to 35, contains the highest percentage of moderates, some 60 percent, and the lowest percentage of liberals, just under a third.

The real meat of the article is difficult to convey through excerpts, but it's very worth reading. Much of it talks about the differences between the old and new generation of professors - the different types of questions they ask, what motivated them to become professors, and where the new fights are. New professors frown upon social action/ engagement, grand theories, normative subtexts, and radicalism; it's harder to get tenure now (and likewise even harder if you're a radical); and universities have to depend much more on finances from corporations. Really worth a read.

Anecdotally, Berkeley's Political Science department has about sixty professors. How many Marxists do you think there are in a department of sixty Political Science professors? Remember, this is Berkeley!

Sadly, it's about the tiresome tree sitter issue. Still kinda cool.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/07/03/trees.berkeley/index.html

I keep getting these emails from noreply@lyris.com in my calmail account today. I haven't actually opened them - I've just deleted them. Has anybody else gotten them also? Does anybody know what they're about? Thanks!

Announcement from your friendly Tolman Hall librarian, AirBears is down in the building and looks like it will be that way for quite some time.

So today i did much better in writing class but worse in the grammar classes. Sigh. Today was a pretty good day though. I went to school, walked down to the town and explored a little (took some good pictures), and talked to the tailor Inam for a while. He's super nice. I'm going to get a suit made from him. I was going to get it today but the market was closed for some protest thing, so i couldn't buy fabric. I'm thinking of getting henry a suit made for our anniversary that is coming up, but i have to get his measurements... Its so cheap though. A full western style suit, sewn in the fabric of your choice and tailored for about $125. crazy. My indian suit is only gonna be like 400 rs though, which is about $10.

I had to take the coldest shower of my life today, bucket shower that is, but it felt so could to shower anyway.

I don't know what i'm going to do for the rest of the evening, maybe just study, but I'm going to hardwar and rishikesh this weekend. I gotta get that all booked though if I'm going to go 0_0;;

Tried my first mango lassi in india today, not sick yet so let's cross our fingers.

I like mussoorie, but its a little small. I think it will be nice to go back to Delhi and go to class and travel around. I can't wait to take a train trip! I know I'm going to go to Varanasi, but i'm not sure where else yet. Probably bombay too. All depends. I'm already going to Jaipur and agra with the group at the end of August, so I'm gonna try to go farther afield over our two week break in october (without missing all of the holidays).

Anyone actually reading this?

July 19, 2008 - Mountain View Shoreline Amphitheater

http://www.downloadfestival.com/lineup/san-francisco/

Including:

The Jesus and Mary Chain
Gang of Four
Brand New
MuteMath
Mates Of State
Yeasayer
M83
Louis XIV

Anyone going? If so, wanna carpool down?

***Tonight***
Wednesday July 2nd
kIMYA DAWSON
PALEFACE
GRAHAM WILKINSON AND THE UNDERGROUND TOWNSHIP
LEVY
with Beau Johnson and Amos Torres playing songs too!
at The Music Hall of Williamsburg
(66 N. 6th between Wythe and Kent in Williamsburg)
doors at 8pm
under 16 admitted with an adult
$20 donation to the Aaron Wilkinson Memorial Playground at the Bridgeport Camp for kids from low income communities and kids with special needs.





"Aaron Robert Wilkinson was born on November 8, 1976 in Englewood, Colorado and died on July 2, 2003 in Brooklyn, New York. He was the first-born, most precious son of Dennis and Linda Wilkinson, cherished and adored brother of Graham and Sarah, and beloved grandson of Alma Thompson."

And he was my friend.

I met Aaron when he moved to New York and started coming around the open mics at Sidewalk Cafe and The Raven. We all called him Cowboy. He had these sweet songs and this charming personality and he won just about every single person over.

Including my mom. He came to a number of community BBQs at my parents place and always sat in the kitchen with my mother and helped clean up. She was very impressed by his kindness.

In the fall of 2001 we were scheduled to leave on a big US tour with the Strokes. Adam got tendonitis in his wrist, so we needed someone to play acoustic guitar for the tour. We asked Aaron. He and I whipped up a quick costume for him. A fur vest with no shirt and a red and white gingham skirt. That, together with his inherent dudeliness and his long blond dreadlocks, was perfect.

Then on September 11th The Moldy Peaches album was released. And the towers fell.

We decided to go on tour anyway. We all needed a little distance from the craziness of New York. And figured people everywhere could benefit from having a fun fun show to go to.

On one of the first nights of the tour someone smashed one of the windows to our tour van and stole my acoustic guitar and the bag with Aaron's journals in it. We were so upset and angry. We got paired up in the hotel that night, because no one else wanted to deal with our freaking out. We turned on the tv to the endless stream of news footage replaying the collapse of the towers. And we just cried. We talked all night about friendship and family and life and love and what is really important. We talked about emotional attachments and the physical attachment to material possessions. We talked about money and stuff. About how stuff is stuff. It's just stuff. We can run out of money and we can lose our stuff. But what is important is the connections we make and our ability to love ourselves and the people we meet and stay grounded, in the face of all kinds of challenges. That night and that conversation were a crucial step in me becoming who I am now. I was just shy of 2 years sober then. I was vulnerable. I still felt broken. That experience and the friendship that grew that night helped me to become stronger.

And the rock continued.

At the end of the tour Aaron parted ways with us to go on with his songs. He had a couple of them that still reduce me to tears whenever I hear them. We stayed friends. He moved in with Paleface and we would have slumber parties. The 3 of us, up all night, eating popcorn, watching videos, and giggling like little girls.

Good memories.

I was in Birmingham UK, at the house of the kids from Misty's Big Adventure- on tour with the Misty's, Toby Goodshank, and the Larval Organs- when I read on the Olive Juice Message Board that Aaron had died.

I remember it like it was yesterday. Going into the other room and having to tell everyone. Being so far away from our friends. Trying to play that night. My friend Scotty Jurnegan had passed away on June 10th that same year, just a few weeks before. I wrote my song It's Been Raining the day I heard about Scotty. I remember trying to play it, and Anthrax- which I had written for Aaron- that night, but just breaking down. I remember it like it was yesterday. But it wasn't yesterday.

It was 5 years ago today that Aaron left us.

5 years. Jeez louise.

And I miss my friend.

Over those years I have grown close to his family. His parents, Dennis and Linda, have strength and beauty and kindness and compassion in the purest form. They are honestly some of the sweetest people I have ever met. I have laughed and cried many times with Sarah. And Graham is my buddy. I have stayed with Graham and played shows with Graham. And just been plain old silly with Graham. We have had our share of shared tears too, but mostly good old times.

It's funny how it happens. Out of the darkness there is light.

And friendship grows. And memories are made and kept in our hearts. And stuff is stuff, but good friends are with us forever. As long as we talk about them and sing for them and keep them alive they will always be with us.

And that's the shit that matters.

Video of Aaron's last show with The Moldy Peaches
Aaron's Myspace Page

Anyone going to the LA this Thursday, July 3rd and willing to rideshare? I need a ride and will pitch in for gas. Can talk a lot or STFU according to driver's preference.

Hey everyone, I left my MCB 102 textbook in 155 Dwinelle after lecture.  It was by the bottom right exit if you picked it up on your way out.  I hope someone has it because the midterm's on thursday and I'm going to be sooooo dead if I don't find the textbook.  Please respond if you have it or know what happened to it

EDIT:  Book returned.  Thanks everyone!

oh my goooooooooooooooooooooodnesss why is life so amazing?
it makes me SOOOOOO HAPPPPPPPPPPPPY to spend time with you and chat and bitch and laugh. always laughing. you make me laugh so much.
AHHH i am giddy.
i feel like i have a schoolchild crush or something.
and it really feels it's reciprocated.
at least i hope so.
^.^

Can somebody give me the rundown on what businesses in Berkeley have free wifi?

I think I'm going to start just posting poetry here. I write this late in the morning. I am sure there are mistakes. They happen. You don't have to read any of this.

-------

I know you, and do not at all know anything
about you. A wondrous feeling, it is.
Blows strike upon the ground, dust arching
in the air, pattering footsteps ahead and behind
as we chase our monsters, ambitions, passions.
At once we are lost, stranded beyond hope, only
each other to guide the way. Lights dim, till
only eyes remain. Your eyes,
sweet suns that they are, glow effortlessly,
pale moonlight racing through dead air towards
a face that never can die. Impossible to forget,
hard to remember.

What feelings course through those veins,
I am never sure of. At times I may feel a rain drop,
or spark,or I may have imagined it.
Memories lend themselves to the imagination,
but they are all that we have.
We must not forget the task at hand. Onwards we run.

Hands grasp. Fall apart. What is it? Which one is right?
What do we want? Can "we" be used? Ever?
Can't stop. Keep going. Once this ends it can start.
Hands grasp. Softly. This time, they hold fast.
I'm elated. Really. Streams of laughter arch outwards,
whip around and bundle us up. Where can we stop?

The branches unwind. The sun is nearly upon the horizon.
Yet we have not yet reached anywhere. Have we moved?
Get up and go. It's got to be the only way. No distractions, this time.
Cut them out, slow tumors encroaching, not for long.
They've grown attached. Grown, attached. This will hurt.

Has anyone taken this class?  I heard that you have to do a final project at the end, is it like individual research or is it a group thing?  On Ratemyprofessor, I have seen a comment that said the class is amazing, and another said worst at Berkeley.  If anyone has taken the course or knows someone who took it, please share what you know.  Thanks =)

Here's the deal. I'm a UC Davis grad which means I'm not as smart as you, and because I'm not as smart as you I need your superior brainpower in helping me figure this out :) I just took a new webdev job in Berkeley which means A: I make alright money B: I'm homeless. And C: I need new Berkeley friends!

Anybody have a 1br apartment they need to get out of either now or end of summer? Or does anybody have a room in a house with cool people where I can stay month-to-month until I figure shit out?

so....pride....
Saturday night I started off the night at John and Monty's pre-pink party. I ran into some cool people i hadn't seen in a while. And found out I accidentally outed Jason Karpman at a party in sophomore year. To be honest though I didn't know he wasn't out for all of college (he came out in sophomore year) until senior year so whoops....
Also started talking to this adorable 19 y/o who I thought Ben would quite enjoy. I ended up hanging out w/him and his friends at the beginning of the pink party but we all quickly lost him.
I wandered around w/Travis Garcia which was interesting in itself. I still think he's pretty cute :) And he gave me vodka so that was yay! From hanging out w/him, I ended up running into this guy I talked to on OKCupid for a while. He stopped responding eventually though and then I met Ben. I made him hang out w/me while I waited 20 minutes for the port-a-potty.
Then I kinda wandered around a bit on my own I think, I don't quite remember.
And then surprise of the night! I ran into Kevin, the frat boy I used to study with from senior year, obviously we were such good friends that I even remember his last name! Anyway, I always thought he was fairly cute but never had any pings on my gaydar. So we get to talking and he's like "yeah, I came out a few months ago" so I was like woooah. So we got to talking and well, I got him home w/me :)
Ben had had a super shitty night so he bought a bottle of scotch and a bottle of fernet for us all to enjoy. We stood around the kitchen and drank and chatted a bit.
Then came the fun! Kevin seemed really into it the whole time which was great. Ben had him abuse me a bit which was also pretty hot. Then we all literally passed out on the bed.
We woke up at about noonish and started getting ready to go out. Of course that means we didn't leave the house til 3:30 :)
Before heading out, Ben and I each took our first e pill.
Now, this was my second itme doing e but the first time didn't work so I was feeling a bit scared.
We got to pride and met up w/his brother, Riff, and his sister and her boyfriend. At that point we gave Riff some pills and did another one each ourselves. I was finally starting to feel it a little bit and we found the electro stage so I was in heaven. When we walked up they were playing "Are You The One?" by The Presets which I love anyway but this was fucking amazing to be dancing to that w/Ben. It was the first time he's ever danced w/me :). So we did that and we made out and there hot boys around and people taking our picture which I think is pretty hot.
At about 4:30 we decide to go get some water and as we're walking over there there was this sudden explosion of warmth in my stomach which spread out to my extremities and then I knew it was really hitting me. Drinking that first bottle of water felt so amazing, I could feel it cooling down my insides so delightfully. then we went and danced a bunch more. At about 6ish or so we all went to go pee and I go into the port-a-potty and of course can't pee (it's really hard when you're new to e) and i'm feeling my underwear and it's all wet so i'm like "hmmm" and then look down at my jeans and am like oh shit.......that's a wet spot.
So I go over to Ben and I'm like uh "I think I peed myself" so he cracks up and I show him and I'm like "yeah...we have to get out of here right now" So we start walking out and Ben's brother is like "I really don't think you peed yourself, you really sweat a lot while on e." so we walk out (oh and I run past alex lemberg at one point) and we start walking back to ben's and finally i touch my jeans and they feel dry
and i'm like oh.......they turn darker when you rub them a certain direction. So we lolzed at that for a long time and then I felt much better.
On the way back to ben's we found this park w/a playground and....well....that was amazing. we took off our shoes and lolzed around and explored the community garden and played in the playground which was, well, amazing. Standing in sand w/no shoes on was pretty much the best.
On the way back we stop at a Walgreen's to get Vicks and some menthol cough drops as those things feel fantastic when you do them.
We got back to Ben's as he has a bit of homework to do and I start showing Riff some lolzy Michel Gondry videos on the youtubes and he shows me some other stuff (The Whitest Kids U' Know). Also we each all took another pill.
Then we decide to head over to Ben's sister's place. We wander around the mission for a while looking for whip-its but every single head shop is closed :( However, for some reason the whole time we were walking south of Market, I felt I was orgasming from walking, so, really, I didn't mind all the wandering around. We get to his sister's place and hse has 8 left. So we each do a few. But only the last one worked for me. I felt like I was sucked back into this long deep tunnel in the couch. For a few seconds at least. Very strange.
Then I played on Riff's tablet pc for a while and made some lolzy art. I'll have to get it and post it somewhere at some point.
Ben's sister made us all mint tea which was really delightful and we did a shot of creme de menthe for the lolz. also Ben said the alcohol would help w/the come down.
Ben and I decide to head back but first we stop in his car in order to listen to a song really loudly w/out annoying the fuck out of the neighbors. So that was great but I was really starting to come down at that point so it didn't feel as fantastic as it should have.
We also went to shower and covered the shower in vicks but only really Ben was rolling at that point so he was in heaven but I was starting to get really tired and wanting to sleep.
Sleeping however wasn't that fantastic, I was still kinda getting waves so I would alternately be really hot or really cold or really both at the same time and had to get up to pee about once an hour.
So....work today was super lolzy.
I really couldn't deal at all w/actual work stuff. I was still feeling the stuff. Everything was still all bright and happy and wonderful and I was listening to trip hop on my big headphones and crying over how beautiful the music was.
I didn't take lunch so I could leave early and left even earlier than I should have because I just really didn't wanna be there anymore.
I went back to Ben's and we decided to go have a little picnic in dolores park. We ran into one of rich couple from that yacht trip so that was kinda lolz. We enjoyed the sun while it was out and then came back here and now i'm lolzing on the computer so hooray!
Some more notes about yesterday:
Ben in my mind was this cartoon character w/giant pupils and beautiful blue eyes and a big goofy grin. All day he was just this caricature of Ben but I was ok w/that.
I was obsessed w/blue eyes and would start to follow boys w/them. Also Riff was wearing these contacts that made his eyes even more blue so I couldn't take my eyes off him.
I kept saying Kokoro Hirai which is the name of a Momus song that Ben has played for me loads and I kept saying it as Kokoro Hooray and then Ben would yell "eats to much chocorate so she lies in hospital today" and then we would lolz and lolz. And then I'd yell it again. Oh the lolz we had.

Has anyone been able to break their Channing Bowditch lease? I'd like to live there for fall semester only, if possible. I know you can break your lease if you get pregnant or study abroad, but can you break your lease if you find someone to take your place??

In Berkeley/Oakland/SF? I'd like to change up my weekend routine and try new places.