Today Travalon went to Patrick Marsh before work. He saw some pelicans there, but the photos aren't that clear. Feel free to refer back to previous photos of pelicans on this blog. Then he went to Columbus and Portage to do some rail fanning. He made a couple of videos that I will make into a movie at some point, and he took some photos of the cool graffiti on the train cars.
Meanwhile, I worked on campus and walked with Hardingfelde at lunch. We went to Allen Centennial Gardens again.
When I got back from lunch, Seabird started texting me from Lisbon. I am very flattered that she and Tiffy take time out of their wonderful vacations to send me photos. First she sent me something to translate:
It says: "(The) my bakery, always fresh and delicious." (They always use the definite article in Portuguese, even with a person's name, so I would say, "The Travalon was taking train photos.") Then she sent me photos of Lisbon. So gorgeous!
In the afternoon I went to another research study, and on the way I saw a train pass by very close, but the horn was so loud that I had to plug my ears, so I didn't make a video. This study was on algorithms; I was supposed to choose between two pieces of artwork about a hundred times, and then it showed me ten pieces of artwork I hadn't seen and asked me to pick my five favorite. The algorithm guessed the exact order I picked them in. The grad student said I was an excellent research subject since I clearly had strong preferences, and then she gave me $20 in singles. These research studies are kind of fun, and I make a tiny bit of money, but most of all they make me feel like I'm extraordinary. The grad student said during the driving one last week that I was doing really well, and I did one last year where I seemed to shock the grad student with how good I was at navigating. I have some weird talents, that's for sure. I've always said I would have been a great hunter-gatherer because I spot birds quickly and always remember where I saw plants.
After work my Union peeps were meeting down at the Terrace. It was a glorious evening, and there were quite a few of us drinking beer and having interesting conversations. Just about the time they all left, Travalon arrived. so we sat enjoying the lovely weather as we ate a pizza. When we left, we passed a frat house that was having a party, and they had a professional-level setup of lights and sound equipment. Did they rent it, or did they actually invest thousands of dollars in equipment you'd expect at a nightclub? It was Senior Night, so State Street was crawling with undergrads, some in costumes. It made me think of some of the crazy parties I went to in college, like the one where I was hula hooping on a roof, and the one where one girl was writing down everything people said with a colorful marker while another guy kept hollering that the song playing was a foxtrot, although it was not big band music but 90's grunge, and the one where everyone brought beer from around the world (I brought Chinese beer), and the crazy house party where a guy pulled me into the closet to hide from the cops busting it, and then those of us who didn't get arrested eventually came out of hiding, ordered a shamrock-shaped pizza, and watched a foreign movie. And the one in the wildly painted basement, and the one where some of us were standing out on a balcony, and a Brazilian girl mused, "What is it to be lucky in suicide - to succeed, or to fail?" and we all thought that was such a deep question. My housemates and I hosted a few ourselves, like a Halloween one where we were the Lion, the Witch, and (poor Tiffy!) the Wardrobe, and a really lovely Christmas one. I am definitely much happier now than I was in college, but some of those parties were really fun. The one I didn't like was a "kegger" where you had to pay $5 for a red plastic cup, and then nothing came out of the keg but foam, and the house was so packed you could barely move. That's what it seemed like some of the bars on State Street would be like tonight, and I've never understood how that could be fun.
Famous Hat
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