I recently purchased a motorcycle. I've been thinking about this for awhile (over the years), and I've finally gone and done it. Getting my license over the summer was one more thing I accomplished during my time away from MIT. After taking the motorcycle safety course, I was hooked. I changed my mind about waiting on a motorcycle, and decided to get one as soon as I was paid. Which I pretty much did. I got a small black cruiser, a 2006 Suzuki S-40 Boulevard. It used to be named the Savage, before Suzuki renamed their whole lineup.
I'm currently practicing it illegally, in the subdivision that I live in. I haven't gotten a license plate or insurance for it yet, but I couldn't wait to take it out for a spin. This is why I've been hiding in the subdivision. I'm also slightly nervous about riding in the street. I'm pretty good at handling the bike. The trouble is, I'm still not experienced enough that I'm spending too much time thinking about switching gears, watching the road for pot holes, etc...and not enough time watching the road signs and for other traffic.
Returning to MIT has been pretty good too. I've met more people in my lab. For some reason their "foreigness" is more acceptable to me now. Maybe it's because I met some people my age. I'm still playing basketball with them every Thursday. The research has been pretty good as well. I feel more curiosity about the things I'm studying. I think I have a new perspective on things; I'm not really sure what it is yet, but maybe I'll spend an entry talking about it in the future. I definitely like that I'm looking at things more from a materials perspective now.
On basketball. I've been dominating the games since my return to school. I'm the tallest person there, barring 1-2 other people. But among those people, I'm the most athletic for sure. This lets me become a dominant center in all of our games. I basically sit under the basket, wait for rebounds, and act as a major threat to score. Since I feel I've solidified my position as center, I've been working on my mid range shots, so that I can become a threat there too. I think it'll add another dimension to my game.
My social life isn't bad either. I've at least created enough of a network that I'm never busy on Fridays and Saturdays. I'm usually out at night, either going out for dinner, going to a bar, watching a football game, or something. It's almost been different every week. If this were the first few weeks, I might've just dismissed it as a "honeymoon period". But it's lasted a whole month. I think I know enough people to have things to do, which has done wonders for my school time too. If I have something to look forward to on the weekends, I can find motivation to do my work before I play.
It's the Sundays that are really getting to me though. My pattern every weekend thus far has been to be active and do stuff Friday's and Saturday's, but then Sunday, it's like a hangover or something. Not quite literally, but it feels like one. Usually on Sunday's, I think that it's time for me to do some work, or run some errands. However, there's usually no rush to do things, as the upcoming week hasn't even arrived yet. As a result, I waste most of the day at home, not particularly relaxing or enjoying myself, yet not getting anything done either. I need to fix this.
I've been working on a dinner with pork chops, onions&peppers, and rice, along with a wine sauce. I'll post instructions in a future entry.
-Howitzer
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