Less Than Common Sense

On Hiatus: Be Back in Mid-September

To our loyal fans,

As we reach the end of the summer and the beginning of a new school year, the Hopkins Interactive student blogs will be taking a brief hiatus. There will be no new content posted until the middle of September, so check back then for new posts (and some new bloggers!) In the meantime, we encourage you to read through our blog archives to read about all the exciting things we did last year. Have a great return to the school year and we’ll chat with you in a few weeks.

~The
Hopkins
Bloggers

Summer's End

Wow, what an eventful summer. I don't remember a summer that lasted this long, but that's probably because I had 4 months off instead of the usual 2 and a half that I got in high school. But really, I've done so much, and it's not even over yet. Where is all this time coming from?

So basically, two days after finals, I flew out to Chicago for a convention, and then flew home, started packing, and then went to Egypt. That's really where I'd say my summer started, it was amazing. Finally the skills we gained from speaking arabic at home for the past 17 years were put to good use. Since it was my family's first time back to Egypt since we moved to the US when I was one and a half, we had to do all the tourist stuff: Pyramids, temples, museums, etc. But we also spent a good amount of time with family there that have been much better than we have about visiting. Plus, we had the advantages of being Egyptian, so all tourist attractions ended up costing around 1/25 of the price. Pretty awesome stuff.

After a week in the country, we flew to the beach, which was so relaxing. A week of doing nothing but the animation programming at the hotel and sleeping. That served to nicely contrast the next few months of my summer, which were spent working with little rest. But all in good fun. First, I flew to IL for three weeks to work with Dr. Samir Sayegh in his opthalmology clinic, and I got a great deal of experience in the medical field, which was nice, and I also got to attend several surgeries, which was definitely the best part. While in IL, I also had to get my prints ready, then I flew straight from there to Long Beach CA for another convention, which was the craziest thing I've ever done. I slept a total of 6 hours during the weekend and ate two meals, and was just nonstop selling my artwork. So intense. I swore that I would never do it again, except that I had another convention the next weekend as well. But not before I slept 18 hours straight when I got home from California.

Then, it was intense work time. During the next two and a half weeks, I finished around 20 new pictures, most of which I ended up making into prints, and then the big convention in Baltimore came. I brought my sister with me so that I could sell at two tables, and I also somehow managed to see a friend for about 20 minutes, and to eat. It was pretty amazing. But anyway, convention season was so incredibly stressful, but ultimately very rewarding and somewhat enjoyable. Plus, I like making things hard for myself in general, it's just what I do.

Anyway, after the convention, my girlfriend drove back with me, and stayed with me for about 2 and a half weeks, which was really nice. We went to NY for a day and Boston for a weekend, plus we had our first chance to actually really go on dates that didn't involve driving home early to study. It was also nice doing nothing for a change. Also, it was really the first time I got a chance to hang out with my friends from back home all summer. That was mostly my fault though, because I had had more than 3 weeks at home before that and just chose not to leave the house. Eh, let's be honest, who doesn't like being antisocial while busy.

(He appears in pictures now!)

Anyway, with three weeks left in the summer, the best thing I can do is offer some advice with what little I remember from last year. First of all, make sure that you stock up on febreeze (both for fabrics and for air). This is absolutely key, because you never know what your roommate (or you) will be like. Second, bring enough sheets that you can change them several times without washing. Nothing is worse than having to deal with changing sheets while studying for tests, at least for me. And last, pack lightly. You're not moving to a new country (or maybe you are), but either way, baltimore isn't a ghost town. There are plenty of places to buy things once you're here, and there's no sense in making the trunk of your car or your checked luggage any heavier when you are bringing things that can be bought at a convenience store. Trust me, no matter what it is you forget, unless it's your favorite stuffed animal that you can't live without, you can live without it or replace it once you're here.

Anyway, that's all I've got left for you for a while, I'm glad to say I have a boring few weeks ahead :D

Awesomeness

Three weeks of nightmarish stress and three days of no internet later, I'm back with much to talk about. Three weeks in Illinois working in an opthalmology clinic, three conventions, and a (currently ongoing) visit from my girlfriend. I'll take them chronologically.

So, I went to Champaign IL, home of a college I refuse to speak of, where I worked with Dr. Samir Sayegh in The EYE Center (-his clinic). During those three weeks, I had some experiences that made me even more sure that the medical path is right for me. Most of the days were just full of field tests, refractions, and fundus photos, as well as the organization of thousands of cataract kits, but some extreme cases that required emergency surgeries made it worth the effort. One in particular that stood out to me was an open globe surgery on a six year old boy with a ruptured cornea. Basically, his iris was coming out of his eye, and without surgery, he was going to lose it completely within a few days. Sitting in on the surgery was incredible, but also frustrating in the sense that I was powerless to do anything to help.

Aside from the work in the office and the surgeries, I also personally worked with a patient who had halos in her vision as a result of a faulty cataract surgery in one of her eyes. I had to do a decent amount of research on bilateral mydriasis, as well as several different types of eyedrops, and did some illustrations of her visual problems that will potentially be used in a case report on the patient.

While in IL, in between visits to the clinic and working on my project, I had to run back and forth to several different stores to prepare prints and displays for conventions that I was going to be attending. Then I flew straight from IL to Long Beach for a convention where I was going to be selling my artwork. The convention was probably the craziest thing ever. So I got there at 7:45 PM on Thursday, and spent all night preparing my display materials, and then had to go outside at 5 AM to wait in line so that I could get a table since they were first come first serve. My first all nighter ever. So I was seventh in line, and by 6 AM there were over 150 people. They finally opened the doors at 8, and were letting in one person at a time to register, so I got in around 8:15, and then all of a sudden at around 8:20 the room just got completely flooded with people before I had even gotten anything out on my table. People weren't supposed to come in until noon, but they found a way, and so I didn't get a single minute to rest and had to sell until around midnight without eating. Oh man, so intense. So that was Friday, and I ran out of so much stuff because I underestimated the volume of sales I'd be making, so Saturday morning I had to wake up early to run to Kinkos to get more prints made, then I came back to the convention center at 9 AM to sell til midnight again (but this time I was smart and packed myself a lunch). Much good that did, I had about 10 bites of food to last me the entire day. Then the same thing again on Sunday, because the prints from Kinkos didn't hold me over the first time. Then Monday morning, I flew home, slept the full 5 hours of the first plane, then my 2 hour layover, then my entire 3 hour 2nd plane, then the 2 hour car ride home, then 10 hours that night.

But it didn't end there, since I had another convention in New Jersey 3 days later. So Tuesday I woke up and had to run back down to Staples to get more prints made for the next convention, and I picked them up Thursday, and Friday morning I had to drive down to New Jersey at 6 AM. This time, I brought my friend Kailey to help me out, which turned out to be the best decision ever because she helped me handle sales so much, and also gave me a chance to actually get food for once. Then, I drove home on Sunday, and immediately got to work making new pictures for my third and final convention of the summer. Since the last one is in Baltimore, which is sort of my hometown convention at this point (Hopkins being in Baltimore and all), I wanted to have way more stuff prepared, and plus I had 2 tables rented at this convention instead of one, so I had to finish an entirely new print spread. So I worked day and night for the next two weeks on new prints and other items, and ended up finishing 14 full prints and 10 smaller ones. Then I drove down to Baltimore with my sister and nephew, and my parents came down as well to help me out. I had my sister selling at one table and I sold at the other, and had the same story as the other two conventions: Little sleep, little food, lots of selling.
Honestly though, I don't want to sound like I'm complaining, because the conventions are actually a ton of fun for me, despite all the stress. And they are totally worth it in the end in my opinion. Plus, they are a really amazing way to escape temporarily from any thoughts of studies or school in general, which gets me energized to work when I get finished with them. It's like leading two lives without having to give up anything that I love.

Did I mention that my girlfriend does conventions as well? And happens to go to Hopkins too? Well, as sort of a spur of the moment decision, she decided to drive back up with me to CT and stay with me for two weeks. We just got back Sunday night, and I really feel that I can fully enjoy the summer for the first time now. No commitments left, nothing to do at all but relax, and I'm really excited that she's going to be staying up here with me for a few. And my parents are pretty excited about it too, since it's their first time meeting her, and they love having guests in the house in general. On one hand, I feel that I should have all kinds of stuff planned, but on the other, her summer has been very similar to mine, and we are both quite happy just staying home and relaxing. Plus, we are going up to Boston at the end to visit a friend of hers for a weekend, so we can call that excitement enough.

If you don't mind, I'm going back to bed. A luxury I haven't had in quite some time now. I'll be back with pictures as soon as I get a chance to get them on my computer (which involves finding the cord to connect my camera). Oh my, a bit of organization would really help my life sometimes.

Time management issues

Oh man I am looking forward to 2 weeks from now, when I'll have an entire month at home with no committments. But for now, it's a complete (and self-inflicted) struggle to find time for sleeping and eating even. Basically, it's a matter of my setting goals way too ambitious to handle, and not being able to admit it to myself, but with two weeks left, it's crunch time.

What am I talking about? Well, if you remember back in February, I posted a blog about a convention that I attended where I sold prints of my artwork. After that convention, I set some goals for myself for what I had to finish before my next set of conventions, the last of which is coming up in around 10 days (in Baltimore actually, woohoo :D). But basically, having not completed everything, that leaves me with 12 more pictures to draw and fully CG by Monday. Ouch. My usual pace is like, 2 weeks per picture. So, stress levels are high. I would say more, but I'm on a five minute break right now, so it's back into the fire now. I'll see you on the other side.

Pharaoh Business

So the long awaited blog about my trip to Egypt is finally at hand. I've been so busy in Illinois that I haven't found a minute to spare (ok so maybe that's a bit exaggerated, more like I was waiting for my sister to send me pictures to show). Anyway, on to the stories!

Story begins may 18, my family and I flew from New York to Amsterdam, stayed there for a few hours and went into the city during our layover. Really nice place, I'm sure you've heard all about it, and we took a boat ride around the canals. But considering we couldn't spend much time there, not much happened besides the fact that I bought a T-shirt.

Anyway, 5 more hours of plane rides later, plus an extra hour of time zone change from Amsterdam, we arrived in Cairo around 3 AM, then spent an hour on a shuttle to our hotel. But man, totally worth the travel time. First of all, we were so hungry, so we decided to stay up til 5:30 AM when breakfast started (which was a feast, by the way), and then we got to our rooms just as the sun was rising, which was absolutely amazing because we had a pyramid view from a balcony in the hotel. Yes, this picture is from the hotel balcony. And so we spent the first day with my dad's side of the family in Cairo, and I haven't seen them in maybe 6 years, so it was really nice. Afterwards, we went to a sound and light show on the pyramids and the sphinx, which was absolutely awesome and amazing(ly informative). We also quickly got used to the 7 hour time difference considering we had slept around 4 hours the night before after 25 hours of traveling, so we got to bed really early (around 3 in the afternoon EST).

Just as a sidenote, when I was a kid, people used to ask me all the time if people in Egypt have cars or if people just ride around on camels all the time, and nobody ever believed me when I answered the former. Well, although we traveled everywhere else by car, when it came time to go into the desert, we switched our mode of transportation. There's something about riding camels around the pyramids that just gives a storybook authentic Egyptian feel, and at the same time made me feel like such a tourist. Regardless, we got a better-than-google-images view of the pyramids from behind, and then afterwards rode back to civilization.

One of the more fun things we did in Cairo was go to khan el khalili, which is a market on the street where you bargain for everything. And they have everything for sale. Jewelry, clothing, spices, decoration, musical instruments, etc. And my favorite part is that the vendors try to guess the language that you speak, and they speak many. So I had English, Arabic and French thrown at me (and I passed the test on 2 of the 3), but just a general bargaining strategy in Egypt is to say you are Egyptian, so I found that I got better prices when I spoke in Arabic. Plus my mom speaks French as well, so as long as I was with her I was in good shape. But all around me I heard all kinds of other languages (German, Russian, and some others that I couldn't distinguish). I bought some papyrus and a tabla, and my mom got an entire gold plated tea set with a tray and a stand (which was a huge ordeal/nightmare to bring back home on the plane, but that's a separate story).

While we were in Cairo, we also toured the city and went to the Egyptian Museum where they have mummies in cases, which was really awesome, and what was even better (well not quite) was the fact that we got the Egyptian price instead of the tourist price (which was 2 vs. 50 Egyptian pounds). Unfortunately, we only had about an hour and a half to spend in the museum, so it was really just a quick tour, and cameras weren't allowed inside, so you'll have to visit and see for yourself.

   After 4 days in Cairo, we flew to Aswan and saw the high dam and got a bit of history before getting to the cruise ship that we were going to take down the Nile. The boat was huge (and with an amazing open buffet), and each day it stopped at different temples, and we had a tour guide to tell us the story of each. My favorite was the temple of Sobek, which had mummified crocodiles (the story of the temple is that his son was eaten by a crocodile, and his son would not reach the afterlife unless he were mummified, and so he found every crocodile in the Nile and mummified them just in case his son was inside). All the papyrus laying around my house makes so much more sense to me now since I know the stories of all the gods (I really should've learned about this sooner). But photos just can't do justice to these temples. For example, we visited one that had 134 columns, each 26 meters tall, complete with the drawings, and some preservation of the colors. It's absolutely amazing how intact they are after thousands of years.

Aside from the temples, we also visited the Valley of the Kings, where we entered four tombs (including that of Tut). One of them was 3 stories above the ground, and there was a narrow open staircase that led up to it, and several members of my family refused to climb up because it was too high. Plus, for anyone who is claustrophobic, the tombs are really not the place to be. But for me, it was one of the highlights of the trip. The artwork on the walls was just incredible, and I can only imagine what these tombs looked like back in the day. One of the most interesting things is that the workers started digging the tombs the day each pharaoh rose to power and stopped the day he died, so it's clear how long the pharaoh was in power based on the length of the tomb. You can imagine the length of the tomb for the pharaohs that ruled for over 30 years.

So we ended up in Luxor after 4 days on the cruise, and took a flight from there to Sharm el Sheikh, which is basically the most amazing beach ever. After days of traveling and touring, it was really nice to sit and relax. And this hotel had an even better buffet (if you hadn't noticed, food is basically the most important part of any vacation to me, and middle eastern cooking is undoubtedly the best in the world, and I don't want to hear otherwise). So the hotel staff had a crew that put on shows and programming all day, and then we went on several adventures. For one, we took a boat to Ras Mohammad national park to snorkel, which was just absolutely incredible. There was an unbelievable number of different colored fish, and I saw a sea turtle as well. So amazing.

After a week at Sharm el Sheikh, we flew back to Cairo to visit family and friends for another day, and then came home. We had 6 passengers, 5 carry-ons, 11 suitcases, the tea set, and 1247 photos to bring home. And 30 hours and much crankiness later, we reentered the US reluctantly with the sad realization that it was time to get back into daily life.

Fortunately, I have the rest of the summer off :)

Everything you should already remember

Well, I'm going to have to delay the Egypt blog I promised for another few days, because I travelled from CT to IL and brought the wrong USB drive. Typical. I've been too busy to deal with the pictures anyway though, between working at the clinic and reading up on bilateral mydriasis. But, there is still much to say, and for those who have been ever so faithfully following each blog entry, you may recognize some of what you see. Having had a full month off now, I feel that it's a good time to review what happened during the past year.

(So, if this is the first blog of mine that you read, take a minute to read my intro)

Well, when I got to Hopkins in the fall, I came with the mentality that I was going to try new things. Only four years of college right? Well, as it turns out, four years leave plenty of time to try new things, considering how much I was able to do in just the first few weeks. I know I know, it'll be over soon and I won't know where the time went. Point is, I went rock climbing for the first time and loved it. With a really great climbing wall (and a bouldering wall), I was at the rec center all the time for the first few weeks, while I still had time. Then life hit me in the face.  That's not to say that I couldn't climb anymore, just that I came to the realization that I was also taking classes and needed to do work. Just a piece of advice, have lots of fun the first few weeks, because that's when the workload is light. It tightens up really fast, and seemingly out of nowhere (how dare they give me work!). But really, it was all about time management, and I still managed to hit the gym a few times a week.

After some tests and some time, Thanksgiving came around and I got to see my family for the first time since coming to Hopkins. And more importantly (I actually didn't just say that), I brought DDR back with me. One of the better decisions I made all year, although it did a great job of stinking up the room every tiome I'd have a mini ddr party with a bunch of sweaty college kids. So maybe in retrospect, it wasn't the greatest idea, but it was a lot of fun anyway, and we had fans+febreeze air. Good combo.

Time went by, and Christmas soon came, and Hopkins gave me the wonderful gift of a month away from school.

Then spring semester! This time, I came in wiser, more prepared, and without covered grades. But in reality, not much was different. Well, for one, I tried getting more involved. And the second (and exciting for me), I started selling my artwork at conventions (which has really picked up and become a steady source of income). But even if you have no conventions, make it a point to take the MARC train down to DC for just $7 if you happen to be in Baltimore, DC is a great city with lots to do, and just a 40 minute train ride away.

So my spring semester DDR came in the form of Final Fantasy XII, which was a total distraction for a while considering I couldn't put it down (except to go to class of course). Then there was fun at the fair, and then the end of the semester, right! Well, I wish, but unfortunately classes have finals, so there was also studying involved (how dare they make me study!)

But sarcasm aside, it was definitely a great first year. and although I had plenty of time to do everything I wanted, where did the time go?

Life doesn't end with the schoolyear

Well, my days of turning on the PS2 right when finals end are over. As soon as finals ended, I flew out to Chicago for a convention to sell art, then came home and started packing for Egypt (which I'll tell you all about in my next blog, I need a bit more time to organize my 864 photos that I took ^^;). Then on Sunday we got home, and now I'm going out to Illinois tomorrow to start a research project, plus I'm going to be working in a clinic/hospital.

So, during these four days that I managed to squeeze out at home between travelling, it finally hit me like a brick to the face that I just finished a year of college. I'm still searching under the cushions to find where the time went. Given the fact that the college year is shorter than the high school year, I really just don't understand how I got through the entire year unscathed. I'm expecting the hungry monsters to come out next year.

Really though, come back in a few days. I promise there are great stories to come :D

Art Party

I've been sick the past few days and cooped up in my room, and then today I had to go get 3 shots done before I take my trip to Egypt.

But that has nothing to do with my story. So let's move on :)

My friend Anna took a drawing class this semester, and she invited me to attend an art party at the Mattin Center where her art was going to be on display. I agreed to go, thinking it was just going to be an exhibit of the drawings from an intro-level course of 15 freshman at Hopkins, but it turned out to be a huge awesome event. Tons of different departments and groups, as well as students from MICA (Maryland Institute College of Art) contributed pieces to the galleries that spread throughout all the various parts of the Mattin Center, and dance/music groups were performing all the time.

When I say tons of departments, I don't just mean art departments. The mechanical engineers built art robots that were doing design work and abstract paintings, which was maybe my favorite thing to watch. It was pretty awesome. Plus, there was all kinds of artwork everywhere (photography, charcoal, paintings, plaster and wire sculptures, random pieces constructed out of household items, and a giant picture made of cans). Plus, there was free food (who can resist the call of free food?) Plus, there was a digital finger painting thing with a glove that sent a signal to a sensor for a program on the computer, which was pretty awesome. I totally failed at using it though, because the controls were pretty difficult to master overall. Regardless, it was a really fun event overall. I made sure to take tons of pictures :D

Finals

Since it is officially past May 1, I just wanted to take a break from studying for finals and pop in to say congrats to all depositees! I look forward to seeing you in the fall :) For all those who chose not to attend Hopkins, boo! No but really, I hope you all end up somewhere you enjoy. I'll post something exciting on thursday after my calculus exam :D

Winding Down

I may be a little early in saying this considering I have 2 tests followed by 3 finals in the upcoming weeks, but I definitely am feeling that things are coming to a close. With only 5 actual days left of classes for the year, it's definitely time to wrap things up and set priorities for the last few weeks at homewood.

There are several things I'm trying to finish before the end of the semester (aside from my studying, since there's a lot of that to be done). First of all, I'm going to be attending another convention two days after my last final (if you haven't been following my blog and don't know what I'm talking about, click here). That means lots of drawing and printmaking must be done, so I'm scrambling to finish all of it and schedule my time wisely. I've already finished 6 (small) pieces since Tuesday, but I'm less than halfway done with what I need to complete.

I am also currently trying to secure a research position for next semester, so I'm going to be talking to several professors over the next two weeks in order to figure out what I want to do next semester. I didn't take advantage of all the available research opportunities this year, but I don't plan to make that mistake again.

Third, I've been thinking about my summer plans. For one, I will be doing graphics for several doctors this summer for a medical journal for seniors, a project which I am really excited about. Plus, I'm going to Egypt for 2 weeks (WOOHOO), and I'm really pumped about it. If you didn't know, I was born there but moved to the US when I was one and a half, and haven't been back since, so this is pretty exciting stuff. Not that going to Egypt alone isn't exciting, just thought I'd provide the backstory as well. Anyway, it's going to be siteseeing+visiting relatives+nile cruise+beach. So awesome. So much traveling though, 7 separate plane rides (including over 20 hours of travel each way).

Just a quick visual:

 

(Thanks to google photos for illustrating my vision)

Oh man, so much to look forward to, and so much planning to do. Summers of just playing video games and sleeping all the time are over.
(But I still have to catch up on plenty of gaming and sleeping as well)