taking a break...

One thing I love about MIT is the library.

Very quiet, loads of books, high ceiling (important to create the mood) and my spot today is just perfect.

There are many libraries in MIT, my favorite being the Hayden Science Library. And yes, especially my spot today. A single desk (not a carrel though just a simple wooden desk), with two wooden chairs and a couch just nearby, overlooking Charles River!! That's the highlight. White snow on the ground, people jogging, dog-walkers, cars, snow-covered Charles River, Boston and the sky that almost never fails to amaze me.

This has certainly made my Chinese New Year's eve sans the reunion dinner more bearable.

The plan to go to a Shanghainese restaurant in town with a couple of friends went into thin air after realizing the tasks I need to finish before Tuesday. We'll have a meeting with our counterpart from Georgia Tech University on Tuesday and our advisor won't be around. Thus it is on my shoulder now to ensure that the meeting will result in juicy fruits.

My tolerance level would not be this lenient if I am in a stuffy, crowded and dingy library.

Other library I like is Rotch (Architecture and Urban Planning). Less grandiose, more minimalist, smaller and quiet also. The only minus point is that being too close to Massachusetts Ave, sometimes the sirene (police, ambulance, fire) is just too loud. But the location is pretty good actually, you just go down one level and you're already in Main Lobby. Practical when you stay late.

The library in my department (Aeronautics/Astronautics), on the other and, is very small and rather hot. It also overlooks Mass Ave so the sirene problem also happens here. This library really comes in handy when: 1) I'm lazy to walk (nearest to my lab), 2) I need any aero/astro specific materials and 3) when I just get bored/too sleepy in lab.

Anyway, highlights of the previous week:
1) I just went back from a short retreat in Bethel, Maine and it was just awesome!
2) I have started my acrylic painting class every Thursday and it is so much fun!!
more about them later...

And the lowlights:
1) I got a patellar tendonitis on my right knee without knowing the exact reason. It may be due to carrying too heavy a backpack (laptop, folders, notes, textbooks) and climb up and down the staircase too often or a hidden injury when I ski-ed last Saturday. In any case, I am avoiding staircase as much as I can now.. I did an X-ray and there's no rapture *phew* though it still needs weeks to fully recover.
2) Ugly snow on Wednesday, 14 February 2007. Incessant pouring: snow, heavy rain, drizzle for the WHOLE DAY!!. And they have made such an inclement weather, filthy road, many road accidents and extremely slippery ground with the ice (not only snow). Yesterday when I went for a meeting in Volpe US Transportation Center, the front ground was practically an ice skating rink. You have to walk like a duck to keep save and firm on your two feet. Thanks God for Timberland.

I guess now I have to get back to work *sigh*.