Click the Squares

Most of what I’ve been doing has been blogged about by other people already. I will try to fill in the blanks.

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Sumin, Shaun, and Adrienne made some fantastic-looking pancakes.

We spent a few days in Maine, which was an interesting and sugar-fueled experience. The only other time I've slept in someone's home since I've come to the US was when we went to visit Adam last spring break. In case you were not aware, Adam's house is very thoroughly filled with pigs. There are pig portraits, pig lamps, pig stickers, pig statuettes, and even pig night lights (in short, a Muslim's worst nightmare). In a similar vein, Shaun's house was littered with numerous stuffed mice (although in Shaun's case, the mouse theme was not nearly as pervasive). From my extensive experience with the typical American household, I have come to the conclusion that all American houses must be animal-themed in some manner. As a child, whenever I was told what America was like, that part was very conveniently left out.

My (baby?) sister Najeeba, minutes before
 her ballet perfomance last week.

Commencement! They asked the volunteers to be there at 6:30, which led to seven hours of standing in the rain. I had to hold up the rope separating the parents from the procession, which taught me to never underestimate a parent's strength when you are all that stands between them and that perfect picture of their graduating child.


Watching the procession up close was a wonderful experience. The first graduates I spotted were exactly what I expected - walking with a regal air about them, accompanied with wonderfully awkward smiles that were halfway between 'I'm finally graduating!" and "Is this really happening?" After a while, I started noticing a few graduates with cameras out taking pictures. The few remaining shreds of regality immediately disappeared once I spotted a Scott (Skirlo) on his phone, and my mentor from my lingustics UROP last summer with headphones on.



 

Unusual Doorway Activity #7: pretending to be frogs while gargling.

I realized too late that I had placed the Amazon.com
 smile on top of the mustache instead of under it.

I'll have more to post about after this weekend.

Link dump (clicky clicky):

An animated version of XKCD 1190 ("Time"). The image has been updating once every hour since the comic was first posted 78 days ago. This lets you scroll through all the images. Worth flipping through. 

Click random squares, enjoy the sounds, hit refresh, try again. I come back to this every once in a while. It's fun. It also gives me a relevant title for this blogpost that happens to rhyme with the previous post's title.

A live map of a very large number of ships around the world. They even have pictures of most of the ships. I have no clue how they acquired all this information, but the fact that we have the ability to do this both astounds and terrifies me. My personal favourite is the MILLENNIUM FALCON, a tugboat not too far from Berkeley.

Edit: ADAM'S HOUSE WAS VERY NICE, AND I AM VERY GRATEFUL THAT HE INVITED US OVER.