Rowyn McDonald

I went on a bike ride!

2011-09-18T00:57:33Z

Daddy and I went on an hour-long bike ride today down to the marina and along the bayshore trail. We went about 9 miles; it was a leisurely ride on a lovely day.

View Bike Ride 2011-09-17 in a larger map

It’s Therapeutic

2011-09-09T22:36:04Z

Yesterday, it was hard to get up, and even harder to get started doing homework. Instead of being down on myself for all the other things I did in the meantime, I tried to think of things and being “therapeutic,” which reminded me of this video by Brigitte Dale (1:58 onwards):

Here are some of the kinds of therapy I applied yesterday:

Food therapy: Whether it’s filling, hearty oatmeal or can’t-stop-eating-it banana cream pie, food is good.
Shower therapy: Being clean feels great. Baths are good too.
Sunshine therapy: Sitting out in the sun, enjoy the warmth, admiring the blue sky.
Cat therapy: Or more generally, pet therapy. Petting and cuddling with furry creatures who don’t require you to talk or have anything to say themselves is quite fulfilling.
Laugh therapy: Tried and true. I highly recommend my sister or friend Simone for this one.

In sunlit silence

2011-04-11T03:48:50Z

Oh! I have slipped the surly bonds of Earth
And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings;
Sunward I’ve climbed, and joined the tumbling mirth
Of sun-split clouds,—and done a hundred things
You have not dreamed of—wheeled and soared and swung
High in the sunlit silence. Hov’ring there,
I’ve chased the shouting wind along, and flung
My eager craft through footless halls of air..
Up, up the long, delirious, burning blue
I’ve topped the wind-swept heights with easy grace,
Where never lark, or even eagle flew –
And, while with silent, lifting mind I’ve trod
The high untrespassed sanctity of space,
Put out my hand and touched the face of God.

-John Gillespie Magee, Jr.

In memory of Marshall McDonald, December 18, 1916 – April 3, 2011

Budget woes

2011-03-10T18:35:53Z

I am disappointed with the “current resolution” to fund the federal government for the remainder of fiscal year 2011 (through September), particularly the spending cuts which will reduce or eliminate federal funding for:

Government offices and programs that fund energy innovation projects.
National Public Radio and public television.
Education, resulting in a loss of jobs for teachers, larger class sizes for students, and less federal financial aid for college students.
Planned Parenthood, which supports cancer screenings and other women’s health care.

Not only do I believe these are valuable services, but I don’t remember them being exactly pivotal sectors for reducing the deficit when I went through the New York Times Budget Puzzle. Yes, I learned about this through arguably liberal media sources, and I don’t claim any particular understanding of how to design a good government budget. If you’re interested, here’s a summary of H.R.1, the proposed “continuing resolution.”

The School of Information

2011-01-29T18:59:23Z

I’m now in my second semester of a master’s program at the U.C. Berkeley School of Information. This term, I’m taking a course called “Concepts of Information” with Geoff Nunberg (whom you may have heard as the linguist contributor on NPR’s Fresh Air) and Paul Duguid. Our first assignment was to write an elevator pitch for the I School—a short prepackaged description of what the program is about. I’ve attempted to explain to many interested friends and family members what I’m studying, so here’s what I wrote:

The School of Information grew out of the School of Library and Information Science. Berkeley dropped the “library” part and entered the 21st century with a focus on information, particularly information technology but also the social and legal issues surrounding information. We’re trying both to understand how people use information and to design and build useful, usable information systems. In that sense it’s very multi-disciplinary, drawing on theory and methodology from fields including computer science, sociology, business, economics, and law. Examples of areas in which I School students specialise include information retrieval, interface design, technology in developing regions, education, and technological standards and policy.

Register to vote!

2010-10-12T21:50:15Z

This year’s California General Election is less than a month away and carries with it far-reaching implications for the future of our state and nation. With that in mind, I would like to remind you that this is the last full week that you can register to vote before the registration deadline, next Monday, Oct. 18th. If you are not registered, wish to change your party affiliation, or have moved since the last election, I urge you to register or re-register to vote.

There are many ways to get hold of a voter registration form. Here are two online:

Many counties, including Alameda and Santa Clara, allow you to check your registration status online. The Secretary of State’s website provides a list of lookup sites and numbers by county.

I’m a fan of permanently voting by mail (a.k.a absentee), but you can also find your polling place using Smart Voter.

Back to school

2010-08-25T04:17:46Z

Tomorrow is the orientation for my Master’s program in Information Management and Systems at Berkeley, and classes start on Thursday. I’m really glad I took time off in-between work and school, but I’m still a little scared of diving back into academics. Well, excited and scared*. Based solely on digital interactions, both my classmates and the department staff seem quite friendly, so I’m looking forward to meeting new people and making friends here. I currently have two classes I’m definitely taking: Information Organization and Retrieval (a required course), and Quantitative Research Methods (which sounds useful and interesting). I may be able to test out of the required computing course, but if not, I’m sure it will be good review. Hopefully tomorrow I’ll get a better sense of what a reasonable course load is. I’m always wary of overburdening myself, but especially this semester, because I will performing in The Christmas Revels and the shows coincide with finals (!).

Any tips for grad school and/or Berkeley as a school and town?

*Though scary is exciting, nice is different than good.

Movie Posters Revisited

2010-09-07T22:10:32Z

I know, what is this, I’m blogging again?! Guess that’s what happens when I have a lot of free time and limited mobility. So remember a while back when I posted about similar-looking movie posters? I’ve seen a couple more since then in the same style; these two really seemed to fit the trend with the red and black sans-serif text and multiple pictures.

Seriously, who designs these things? Trust Google to lead me to a helpful website, the Internet Movie Poster Awards. To my surprise, none of these posters are done by the same design companies, but it’s pretty interesting to see the trends within particular firms, such as B.L.T. and Associates, who did The Heartbreak Kid. There are quite a few more examples on their page with red and/or and black text (I Love You Man, Modern Family, 17 Again and Desperate Housewives) or the vertically-centered title between two images (Eat, Pray, Love, Julie & Julia, Something’s Gotta Give). Although my sister has the family share of aesthetic talent, I like to think I can at least notice and appreciate design :).

Wisteria

2010-09-02T21:39:54Z

Wisteria has long been one of my favourite plants. I love its twisty, ropy trunk, its vibrant green leaves, its heavy purple and white flowers, and its fuzzy seed pods. In the backyard of Nana’s house there was a venerable wisteria planted next to a pergola. In addition to growing over the structure, however, it had grown up into and taken over an old incense cedar tree. I wish I had a picture of it in bloom, but it was beautiful in the autumn as well.

Before we sold the house, I saved a few seeds from that tree, and just a few months ago I finally planted two of them and delighted in watching the tiny leaves unfurl. Now, however, I get to look out my window every day and see a trellis full of wisteria on my front porch, which is one of my favourite features of my new apartment.

Morrison Library

2010-08-11T03:25:58Z

Today after having lunch with Ellen, I wandered around the Berkeley campus for a bit and eventually made my way to the Doe Library. There I took refuge in the Morrison Reading Room:

It reminded me of the Lane Reading Room at Stanford. There’s a sign at the entrance that says no cell phones, no food, and no sleeping; perhaps the first two rules are enforced, but I saw students dozing in chair and couches around the quiet, cozy room. I tucked myself into in a large red chair and lost myself for a few hours in Harpist in the Wind by Patricia A. McKillip, which I picked up from the Berkeley Public Library yesterday. What a lovely way to spend an afternoon.