Tubestock and Bridgewater

I'm back!
No new posts for a while because Corey was here visiting. That all went very well, I miss my baby. I'm not going to get sappy though and spend the next 3 paragraphs talking abot how wonderful he is, just know that I love him and want to have his babies.

I don't mean right now, silly.


Tubestock was this weekend, and Corey and I made last Sunday's Valley News (a local paper). Well, actually it was me and his feet that made it in. I was trying to coax him into getting onto the river in my float, but he's not a great swimmer so he wasn't really having it. A reporter was taking pictures nearby and started chatting with us and taking pictures while I worked my charm with Corey. So eventually Corey gave in and got on the float and the picture in the paper just shows me on my float looking up at Corey, all you can see of Corey are his feet. The caption reads something like "Dartmouth sophomore Valery P. of New York convincing Corey B**** of Brooklyn to join her in the water. B**** later relented." I like that last part... Corey was like, yup that's the story of my life. Funny stuff.

What else is new? I got an internship for winter term as a "Technical Associate" for Bridgwater Assoc. (in Westport, CT) so I won't be in Thailand afterall. As it turns out it's a paid internship contrary to what I was led to believe and there's a WTF taekwondo school nearby, so I'm pretty psyched.

More stuff later, time to get moving on this problem set stuff...

My Hellish Week and Another One of Corey's Poems

No Bradford TKD for me tonight, a sad sad day. All my fault too, I didn't lift a finger this weekend to get work done ahead of time. I've gotta STOP SLACKING. So here's the rundown for the week (not because anyone really cares but because I need to get myself focused)

Today: finish postlab from last week, do [longass] prelab for this week, and write out outline for exam essay topic for the stugy group meeting.

Tue: class, lab, study group, then do ENTIRE math problem set (which I should've been doing over the weekend)

Wed: yoga,class, study for essay exam (hate those things), go to pre-interview meeting for internship (again, who do they think they are??) , work

Thu: 2 hr essay exam, 50 minute "Quiz", work, do ENTIRE engineering problem set (ditto about doing it over the weekend)

Fri: Internship interview,class,work,finish Engs problem set before 5PM.... COREY COMES TO VISIT!!!

So that's the rundown. I'm done bitching, moving on.

I'm contemplating taking the search for a winter internship more seriously. Although studying Buddhism in Thailand would be the fulfillment of a dream for me, getting work experience might be more crucial at this point in my life. Plus, if I get this CT internship I can continue with my TKD training and possibly test for black belt next winter camp. (Not that I'm making my life decisions based on tkd, but it's an added bonus.) Another reason I've put my Thailand dreams on hold is because I can apply for a technical internship in Thailand for next summer through this organization that places interns internationally. The program sounds pretty competitive but if I get work experience during my winter leave term then I'll be that much more likely to get placed somewhere (even if its not Thailand).

I better get going on this load of work, so instead of finishing my post with more content here's a poem Corey wrote in May:

Love the Greatest sorrow

Many say "It's better to have Loved Lost" I dare you to try it To love with all your heart And not have to hide it To Open yourself With no Bouncers or Gates To Give yourself And do all that it Takes To love like this And have it all go awry No matter how much you Try You want to pull your hair out break down and Die Then later Cry Thoughts all twisted inside I love you No I hate you Either way Good Bye To have the perfect Woman To have the perfect Man And have them leave you For reasons you still can't Understand You've planned your life around them Then your Future no longer matters on a whim What do you do now that you're not even on the Back Burner Years Of fighting to be first Let no Obstacle hold you aSunder No Parents No Distance No Race Kaboom It all Blows up in your Face So what do you do When your life gets up and runs out on you Hopes and Dreams Gone out the Blue The House with the white picket fence Harbors a black space Where once in a dream held a familiar face Everyday it gets Easier to cope Proud of yourself when you say "i won't call" and you don't Most fun when your family and friends Ask about them Slap in the face Start at Day one Again "It's better to have Loved and lost Then to have Never Loved at all" Easier said than done I dare you to go to that Cliff and Fall ****

This was written between May 10th, when we broke up, and June 7th when we got back together... I read it on his blog while we still weren't speaking and wanted to curl up in a ball and cry. In fact I think I did.

Sink or Swim

Hello world. You know the routine - the rest are details.

Went to Bradford tkd for the first time in two weeks on Monday and woke up sore as hell yesterday morning. I need to start training more often but that would involve finishing engineering and math problem sets ahead of time so that I'd have Tue and Thu nights free - and if you know me at all, you know that it's not going to happen.
I actually wound up doing laps in Spaulding Pool on Sunday though, and that was at least a little bit of a workout - and it's about time I started swimming again. It's a shame the main pool is closed for renovation this summer so that pool hours are pretty short. I can only make weekend hours comfortably, without having to rush from classes to the pool or from the pool to lab or to work. Besides, I have to be up at 7AM on Mondays and Wednesdays for an 8AM Yoga PE class I'm taking. Speaking of which, today's spine/back exercises made my back feel a ton better...maybe there's some hope of curbing my scoliosis related pain without surgery.

Besides my sickly attempt at trying to stay healthy this summer, I've also managed to get myself into an interview for a "Technology Internship" at Bridgewater Assoc. (Westport, CT). Although I'm still planning on the Thailand Buddhism thing for my winter leave term, I figured I'd try to give myself some options in case something fell through so I submitted my resume and am going for an interview in a little over a week. Only problem is that I need business formal attire for this interview - HA!! Who the hell do they think they are anyway? Yea...

Corey, Corey, Corey... what can I say here? Ups and downs as usual. Loved the poem he wrote. Almost arranged to go to Six Flags New England in 2 weeks with him and my bro and Christina and then he lost his temper and cussed out my brother's girl. Ouch. Long story.

Corey's Beautiful Poem

This is a poem Corey wrote a couple of days ago:

Daddy loves you

To my unborn child who awaits to raise To take your first breath To Open your eyes You wait to be in this world But my Child your mother can't be an Average Girl So to you, I'm sorry to say you must wait a little more while i keep minx at bay You must wait for a mother who's true For her love for me come only Second to you You must wait My unborn seed I know you yearn to be free but please hear my Plea She must be a woman Kind of heart Strong of will hardest of all able to stand me Single parent home is not for my Baby and I'll be damned if i have you calling another man Daddy So i just want you to know I'm working on it Just thought you should know It's times like now when I'm alone here I wish to sit you on my lap and Tell you in your ear I love you So many things i want to show you Even though by five you're going to be calling me Old School So Mr./Miss "I need out" i just gave you a few things to think about Daddy Loves you kid ****

Life Update

So I haven't been updating lately, but here goes a summary of what's been going on in my life for the last month or so...

For those who don't know, Corey and I got back together shortly after he came up to Dartmouth to help me move out (that same day I tested for my black stripe). We began speaking to each other about a week and a half before that. I won't go into it here, but I feel that a mutual understanding has definitely been reached. And, amazingly, after months and months of frustration and dead end conversations, I began to see changes as soon as he was able to put into words (better than I could) exactly what it was that I wanted and what the issues have been. I've never been happier... I really don't know how I'll be able to live without him while I'm in Budapest this Fall.

While at home during interim Leon (my brother), his girl, Corey and I went to Six Flags and the Wild Safari there. Gotta say, it was a blast - especially being able to spend the day with Corey, being a baby and going on kiddy coasters, sharing every ride with him, laughing and screaming, and all that gushy stuff.

Here are some shots from the Safari:There were a lot more great shots, but I wound up taking a lot more video clips than I did pictures because they're more interesting to watch. There were giraffes wandering in and out of traffic, there were bears, rhinoceri (?), and of course monkeys and kangaroos, and lions (caged).

And not quite from the Safari, but here's Thum Thum after he walked into the house all soaked. My parents speculate that he must have fallen into one of our neighbors' pools, but if he did I have no idea how he could have possibly gotten out.
In other, more boring news, I'm back at Dartmouth now taking summer classes (go sophomore summer). I couldn't take the computer science class I needed because it met during the same hour as one of my math classes so I'm taking System Dynamics (ENGS 22), Abstract Algebra (Math 31), and Race and Ethnicity in the US (SOCY 42). The SOCY 42 class satisfies NA and SOC requirements and plus it's a pretty interesting class and gives me a chance to focus on my math and engineering classes as well.

One last thing - while I was back home during interim we celebrated my grandma's 90th (!) birthday:

That's my dad, my g-ma, her home-attendant (and good friend), Christina (brother's girl), Leon (my brother), and me.

From left to right: Valya(friend), G-ma, dad, Christina, Leon. The photo on the table is one my father had made for her birthday. It's an enlarged version of an old picture her husband gave her when she was 35. (That's her in the picture).